Raising a Child through Prison Bars
Started on Dec 2009 and was completed on Dec 2009
The Project “Raising a Child through Prison Bars” (with financial support from the DAPHNE III Program of the European Union) was implemented in Greece, Bulgaria and Romania.
The project’s objectives were to contribute to:
- support Imprisoned Mothers (IM) & future mothers to handle their own experiences of abuse [either Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) or Child Abuse & Neglect (CAN)] & accomplish their parental role in as an effective way as possible
- prevent & combat CAN as well as to provide support to Children of Imprisoned Parents (CHIP) in order to both disrupt the cycle of violence & enhance children’s resilience
- collect data in 3 European countries (Greece, Romania, Bulgaria) aiming to map the Imprisoned Mothers population in regards to demographic information, needs and problems faced by Imprisoned Mothers, their children and families, as well as in regards to CAN and attachment style for both Imprisoned Mothers and Children of Imprisoned Parents, IPV experience of IM and mental health of CHIP.
The project’s objectives were accomplished by conducting the following activities in Bulgaria, Greece and Romania from December 2009 until February 2012:
- Research & needs assessment surveys were conducted to imprisoned mothers, children of imprisoned parents and women’s prisons’ personnel
- Mothers’ Support Groups (M-SG) & Family Ties Building Activities were conducted in 5 women’s prisons in Bulgaria (one prison), Greece (2 prisons) and Romania (2 prisons)
- Children’s Support Groups (CHIP-SG) were conducted via using drama techniques
- Building women’s prisons’ personnel capacity through Training (professionals employed in women’s prisons) & Sensitization Seminars (operational personnel)
- Development of Supportive Materials, namely:
- The expected results of these activities are: enhanced CHIP’s resilience & functionality; enhanced IMs’ parenting skills; strengthened mother-child relationships; enhanced skills & raised awareness of prison personnel
Moreover, there are two (informative) leaflets provided:
- for children of imprisoned mothers entitled: My mother is in prison… what I’d like to know…
- for imprisoned mothers entitled: Raising a child through Prison Bars… isn’t easy but… it isn’t impossible!
- a series of three manuals for professionals (available in 5 languages: English, Greek, Bulgarian, Romanian and Hungarian)
- Raising a Child through Prison Bars: A Manual for Professionals
- Step-by-Step Guide for Facilitating a Mothers’ Support Group in Prison
A total of 269 imprisoned mothers και 132 children of imprisoned parents participated in the Support Groups, and 81 children of imprisoned mothers who participated in the family ties building activities conducted in 5 women’s prisons.
Click here to visit the action’s page
