C HILDREN AND IMPRISONED PARENTS

The following information is based on the knowledge and experienced gained by Bambini’s work with children of prisoners and their parents over the past 10 years and is informed by other studies cited in Chapter 2.

7 Biondi, G. (1994) Lo Sviluppo del Bambino in Carcere, Milan: Franco Angeli

8 Istituto a custodia attenuata per madri

3.1 Imprisoned parents Typology

During its work over the past 10 years, Bambini identified the following ‘types’ of parents in prison:

Fathers

• fathers with families that can take care of their children

• fathers legally separated from their partner, with rulings by the Family Court or the Ordinary Court stipulating conditions of contact with the children

• fathers who have committed family-related crimes (sexual abuse, abuse of minors or of partner) with rulings by the Family Court

• fathers who have killed their spouses or partners

• fathers addicted to substances (drug, alcohol) and gambling

• fathers who, as a result of detention, see the relationship with their children cut off because their partner leaves without any kind of legal separation

• fathers who had no contact with children prior to imprisonment, then

“rediscover” their paternal role while in prison and ask to re-establish contact

• fathers who, due to arrest, could not carry out procedures for officially being named the legal father of the child

• fathers who are the primary carer of their children.

Mothers

• mothers with a family that can take care of the children

• mothers already involved with Family Social Services prior to imprisonment

• mothers referred to Social Services before or during detention

• mothers not followed by social services but without a supporting family or social structure (for example, relatives taking care of the child during detention)

• mothers with drug-addiction problems (involvement of Ser.T service, special approach with social worker and children)

• foreign mothers with children living at great distances

• mothers (often nomad) who could keep their children in prison with them if under the age of 3 but do not because they are not informed of this option;

they fear social services; or relatives outside do not consent to this option.

3.1.1 Arrest

The arrest of a parent is generally a very stressful phase and potentially very traumatic for children. Children can experience high levels of anxiety, which can trigger a variety of trauma: fears of abandonment due to the sudden disappearance of the parent; fears that the parent is dead; or a sense of guilt, particularly in young children, who frequently feel responsible for the parent’s departure. General arrest procedures in Italy are governed by regulations laid down in the Italian Penal Code.⁹

9 Italian Penal Code (Codice die procedura penale) Titolo VI art. 380-381-382-384-385-386-387

What happens to the children?

If a mother is arrested after being sentenced by a judge, the children are generally entrusted to the care of a relative; if there is no relative, they are put in the care of social services. If the mother is arrested at the scene of the crime, and the children are not present at the time, she is taken to the police station for questioning, where she has the opportunity to disclose to the police that she has children and indicate who should take care of them.

If the mother is arrested while committing a crime and the children are present, the mother is taken to a police station and the children are placed in the custody of relatives (or in the custody of an appointed person if there are no relatives).

However, often the woman does not disclose that she has children immediately, only later when she is already in prison. If the arrested woman informs the police that she has children only after she is imprisoned and then asks to take care of them, the prison social services has to be informed; they in turn will contact the regional social services.

However, if the woman refuses the assistance of social services, the prison cannot follow up on her. When no carer is appointed, the children are put under the care of the local social services, which places them in emergency care. The Family Court is alerted and a temporary foster care procedure is launched by social services.

In general, the mother has little or no information about her child’s whereabouts in those cases when there are no relatives to take care of the child and this can be a source of extreme anxiety for her. In theory, social workers have the possibility to consult with the mother in prison, but this does not usually occur until after the first weeks, or even months, of imprisonment.

The arrest of the father, in comparison to the mother, creates fewer emergency situations with respect to the children, as they tend to remain living within the family. If children are present when a father is arrested, Bambini has found that fathers frequently experience shame, particularly when faced with children’s questions, and resort to fabricating “truths” to explain the circumstances.

3.1.2 Pre-trial detention

For imprisoned mothers, a central issue during pre-trial detention remains knowing the child’s whereabouts. This can be particularly difficult for foreign women who cannot communicate directly with children living faraway. Another issue is deciding whether children under the age of 3 will reside in prison with the mother.¹⁰

For imprisoned parents with families who can care for children, two of their primary concerns are organising the first visit with the children; and what to say to the children.¹¹ Imprisoned fathers sometimes do not tell children the truth about their imprisonment, and instead fabricate stories (although it is often the mother or caretaker who lies to the children about the dad’s whereabouts). When there is conflict with the partner, contact between the imprisoned father and the children may be cut off. Fathers who have been arrested, and could not fulfil necessary procedures to be named the

10 In Italy imprisoned mothers can keep their children with them until they turn 3, after which children have to leave and, in the absence of relatives, are put into the care of social services (Civil Code IX, art. 316 and following)

11 Bouregba Alain, I legami familiari alla prova del carcere, Bambinisenzasbarre, Milan 2005

child’s legal father prior to imprisonment, are assisted in contacting public officials for legal procedures.

3.1.3 Sentenced prisoners

During the sentencing phase, the court can consider alternative sanctions to custody,¹² particularly where the defendant is a mother. If the children have been entrusted to social services and the mother is sentenced for a long period of imprisonment, the child/ren is placed in a foster family (considered preferable to being in residential care).

In this case, the mother may experience difficulties in keeping contact with her children and the foster care family, and might not be involved in decisions regarding her children. Arrangements for contact between imprisoned parents and their children will be discussed with reference to the national research study.

Visits

Remand and sentenced prisoners are entitled to six to eight one-hour visits per month with their children (L354/1975, Art. 28; Art. 37, r. app). Prisoners arrested for crimes listed in the first paragraph of Art. 4bis of the Penitentiary regulation (L354/1975) (which include Mafia related crimes) are entitled to up to four visits per month.

In order to maintain family bonds when prisoners have children under the age of 10, it is possible to obtain a higher number of visits and phone calls than stated in the regulation or have the opportunity to spend part of the day together with relatives in specific rooms and areas.

Communication with children

In general, prisoners are entitled to a weekly ten-minute telephone call (Art. 39, R. app L354) except for prisoners that come under Art. 4bis who are limited to two phone calls per month. Since April 2010, prisoners categorised as ‘medium security’ have been able to make calls to mobile phones using the prison’s mainline system (Ministry of Justice Circular 26 April 2010) in a change to the rules introduced to reduce the negative effects and self-harm by prisoners.

3.2 Children

3.2.1 Arrest - Police and ‘Carabinieri’ in the presence of children

Another crucial point which has yet to be adequately addressed through regulations, policies and practices is the impact that methods of arrest, custody and control of the imprisoned parent can have on children, notably psychological repercussions. The training and awareness-raising of police and prison officers will play a key role.

Carabinieri

In Italy, the Carabinieri and the police¹³ have similar judicial arrest procedures. Bambini interviewed a colonel of the Carabinieri who stated that, in his view, the practice of the Carabini is that the presence of children when a parent is arrested should be regarded

12 cf Legal framework above

13 Italy has a system of Police and Carabinieri: The Police report to Internal Ministry (Home Office), Carabinieri report to Ministry of Defence and both are responsible for justice. police and public security

as a ‘humanitarian issue’, not a procedural one and that therefore the Carabinieri approach children as sensitively as possible, trying immediately to locate a family member to take care of the child/ren. If no such person can be found, the police should not search the home in front of the child, but take the child to another room to try to make the experience less traumatic. If the mother is arrested and there is no relative to take care of the child, preference is given to house arrest. In a case where there is no alternative but to imprison the parent, every effort is made to ensure the child does not witness the imprisonment. He felt that these practices have been developed over time, consolidated and applied in a more or less respectful manner, when the arrest takes place outside metropolitan areas, in provincial Carabinieri stations where there is more likelihood of people knowing each other.

Police officers

The police department deals with crimes of mistreatment, neglect and abuse of children, with the use of professionally trained people. The Judicial Police Auxiliary is a person with specific training in psychology and/or pedagogy who is contacted if a child is present at an arrest scene. The auxiliary looks after the child in question, and a law prescribes that this professional must be present with children up to the age of 14, during the interrogation phase and until they are placed in statutory care.