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About

The imprisonment of parents and caregivers can have a significant effect on children. Research has found that imprisonment can lead to relationship breakdown, financial hardship, reduced psychological wellbeing, increased criminality, as well as perpetuate and exacerbate existing social inequalities. Many countries experience high imprisonment rates and have large prison populations but how criminal justice polices and the use of imprisonment may affect children, their outcomes and key development challenges is not often considered. This project begins to address this gap by raising awareness of these issues and creating a network of people who want to work together to promote change.

We believe all women can embrace who they are,
can define their future, and can change the world.

Objectives

  • Establish a network of practitioners, policymakers and researchers to increase awareness of how parental imprisonment and the imprisonment of caregivers may affect children, their outcomes and key development challenges.

  • Identify gaps in current knowledge, policy and practice and work towards addressing these gaps to improve children’s outcomes.

  • Share knowledge, skills and experiences to build capacity to undertake research on this topic and advance our understanding of how different socio-political and economic contexts may influence the effect of parental/caregiver imprisonment on children and their outcomes.

  • Work collaboratively to co-design a long-term research strategy in this area and maximise the use of research evidence to inform policymaking and practice.

Our Mission

History

This project has arose from previous work undertaken by Dr Cyprian Misinde , Makerere University, Uganda and Dr Michelle Butler , Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland. Dr Misinde and Dr Butler received funding from the Department of the Economy , Northern Ireland to conduct some exploratory research into the impact of parental and caregiver imprisonment on children in Uganda. This funding was awarded as part of the Global Challenges Research Fund which seeks to support research that addresses the challenges faced by developing countries. The publications arising from this research are available below.

 

Following on from this exploratory research, Dr Misinde and Dr Butler received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council Global Challenges Research Fund  to work with policymakers and practitioners to disseminate their research findings and raise awareness of how parental/caregiver imprisonment may negatively affect children, their outcomes and efforts to address development challenges. This project builds on the exploratory research and dissemination activity to create a network of policymakers, practitioners and researchers to share knowledge, skills and experiences, as well as build capacity to undertake research in this area to inform policy, practice and the improvement of children’s outcomes. This project is being funded by the Academy of Medical Sciences Global Challenges Research Fund .

Project Related  Publications:

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