'Divided Households': Developing a Co-produced, Child-centred, Rights-based Framework for Prison Social Visits

What is the problem?

At least one child in every UK school has a parent in prison. Children and young people (CYP) with a parent in prison are more likely to face mental health difficulties, live in disadvantaged areas and do less well at school. They are also more vulnerable to stigma, isolation and exclusion, and to experiencing anti-social or criminal behaviour.

Strengthening ties with families can protect the wellbeing of those in prison and reduce re-offending. Much less is known about whether (and how) regular contact can protect the health and emotional wellbeing of CYP; and the impact that wider family imprisonment, such as of siblings and grandparents, can have upon CYP. Prison visiting experiences can be problematic for families.

Restrictive visiting times and placements far from the family home can result in expensive or poor transport options. Visiting rooms also lack privacy and suitable, safe spaces for children to play. COVID-19 has placed considerable, additional strain upon this system, with prison visits across England, Wales and Scotland suspended late March 2020.

Whilst many prisons have begun to resume visits following a third national lockdown, most families have had very little contact with a loved one in prison over the past year. Rollout of secure virtual visits has been slow, with justice-involved families amongst the most likely to experience health, social and digital inequalities, meaning a large proportion lack access to technology needed to maintain this contact.

As a result, some CYP have not had direct and/or face-to-face contact with an incarcerated family member in over 12 months. What does this research aim to do? Most previous research has been conducted from the perspective of adults. Instead, this project aims to:

1. understand CYP's perspectives on the long-term impact of reductions and/or changes to prison social visits on their mental health, emotional wellbeing and familial relations; 2. apply the lived experience of CYP to co-produce a child-centred rights-based framework for prison social visits. How will this research be carried out?

This study will use a number of different research methods:

1. I will conduct multiple interviews with justice-involved families in North East England and Scotland over the course of 9 months to understand CYP's lived experience of reductions and changes to prison visits and familial contact.

2. Qualitative, documentary analysis will map how prisons across England, Wales and Scotland have responded to COVID-19 restrictions, and how they have communicated with families during this time.

3. Using information from interviews and documentary analysis, I will work with justice-involved families, creative artists and stakeholders across a series of workshops to co-produce a prototype rights-based framework for prison social visits.

4. A further series of workshops will be held with policy-makers and practitioners from across the custodial environment to explore and finalise our prototype framework. Public Involvement and Community Engagement

Organisations who support justice-involved families have been involved in developing this research - these organisations will form a stakeholder panel with an academic and practitioner co-chair. I will also establish PICE Reference Groups (RGs), drawing on existing organisations and families in situ, who will play a meaningful part throughout the study, helping me make decisions about the research, and develop the dissemination strategy.

Dissemination

The main outcome from this research will be creation of a child-centred, rights-based framework for prison social visits, which is hoped will give a powerful humanising insight and place 'right to health' at the heart of prison visiting systems. Articles will be published in academic journals, summaries of the research will be made available for policymakers and the wider public, and results will be presented at a number of conferences and events.