Mothers returning home: A critical intersectional approach to reentry

Mothers who reenter society after serving time in prison and want to reunite with their children do not find an easy passage. The young, poor, predominantly minority women returning home were not safe or healthy before prison. The major problems include high rates of abuse, poor education, and drug problems, which are not easy to overcome in prison; prisons rarely, if ever, offer facilities or programs designed for women and mothers with backgrounds of trauma. Most mothers will return to their families and communities, but how well they manage their reentry with their children depends on many factors, including what their lives were like before they were incarcerated, what happened to them behind bars, and their post-prison experiences. In addition, mothers’ experiences after prison are shaped by the lives of their children and the people who cared for their children while they were away. This chapter takes a critical intersectional approach to explore the types of choices mothers make while facing multiple and varied types of oppression.