2007 Theses Doctoral

“Children of Promise” Being a Teen with a Mother in Prison and Sharing the Experience with Peers

Boudin, Kathy

This qualitative study examined the meanings that eight young adults constructed relating to having a mother in prison during their high school years. Their mothers were all incarcerated in a maximum security prison in the northeastern region of the United States. The teens were involved in a program in which they spent time with their own mothers and with their peers and their mothers in a special visiting area at the prison. They also spent time with one another in a monthly discussion group and in chaperoned activities outside of the prison.