Date Thesis Awarded

5-2016

Access Type

Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only

Degree Name

Bachelors of Science (BS)

Department

Psychology

Advisor

Danielle Dallaire

Committee Members

Scott Cone

Allison Scott

Abstract

This thesis explores the intersection of motherhood, recidivism, and the reentry process for recently incarcerated new mothers. Women were recruited from the Healthy Beginnings Project, a program that works with pregnant, incarcerated women from correctional institutions in the Williamsburg area to provide perinatal education and support. Completed intake and postpartum surveys (n=103) were analyzed for quantitative data on the incremental ability of maternal, psychological, and contextual stressors to predict new mothers' likelihood to recidivate. 34.3% (n=34) of the new mothers recidivated when the child was one to twelve months old. None of the summed stressor variables were significantly associated with recidivism, nor was the cumulative measure of combined stressors. However, some of the individual contextual variables were: monetary stress (t(94)=-2.04, p=0.04), unemployment (x²=10.53, px²=15.94, pn=15) collected narratives on the women’s experiences related to incarceration, motherhood, and reentry. Women who recidivated (n=6) did not attribute their reincarceration to their children, but women who were successful in their reentry (n=9) attributed their success to their children.

Recommended Citation

Perry, Sarah Ross, "Coming Home: Challenges Related to Reentry and Recidivism for Previously Incarcerated New Mothers" (2016). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 915.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/915