Prisoners' children and politics: an aetiology of victimisation

SUMMARY. Very little attention has been paid to the needs of prisoners' children, in spite of the large numbers involved. Whilst to some extent this is due to the hidden nature of the problem, it is also influenced significantly by the fact that the justice system - based on concepts of acquitting the innocent and punishing the guilty - cannot afford to accept publicly that many tens of thousands of children are punished more by the sentence than is their imprisoned parent. Often the prisoner's child may also suffer more than the victim of the parent's crime. Media attention to the sentencing of a mother by Judge Pickles brought into the open a subject which is mostly hidden or ignored. This article explores the issues and argues for a new approach