National Association of Social Workers

Breaking the Mom/Daughter Prison Cycle

Social Workers Key to Lowering Incarcerations

A program guided by social workers becomes the subject of a PBS documentary.

By Paul R. Pace, News Staff

Illustration: John Michael Yanson

Eighty percent of mothers who are incarcerated go back to parenting once they are released — and more often than not, their daughters follow a similar path to trouble, according to NASW member Darlene Grant, an associate professor and associate dean of graduate studies at the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin.

Grant said studies show these daughters are six times more likely to land in the juvenile justice system than children whose parents have not been jailed.

Stopping the cycle of mother/daughter incarceration is the aim of a Girl Scouts of the USA program called Enterprising Girl Scouts Beyond Bars. A Girls Scouts Council in Austin, Texas, is having particular success at breaking the pattern of mother/daughter incarceration with the help of dedicated social workers.

The Girl Scouts Lone Star Council took it upon itself to include the help of different agencies when it launched its own Girl Scouts Beyond Bars program in 1998.

Grant serves as evaluator of Troop 1500, a group specifically designed for the area's young girls dealing with the hardships of having their mothers imprisoned.

"We have served 64 girls over that time," Grant said, noting that all the girls who have been in the troop have avoided following their mothers to a jail sentence.

"I marvel at the relationships we've developed," said Grant.

"If we permit society's perception of these women, the kids are doomed to go prison if we presume they're bad," Grant said.

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From March 2006 NASW News. © 2006 National Association of Social Workers. All Rights Reserved. NASW News articles may be copied for personal use, but proper notice of copyright and credit to the NASW News must appear on all copies made. This permission does not apply to reproduction for advertising, promotion, resale, or other commercial purposes.