When sons go to prison: the challenges for Black mothers.

The women in my family are no strangers to the corrosive effects of the U.S. carceral system or the heartbreak of having a son in prison.

According to a 2023 report by The Sentencing Project (TSP), the U.S. prison population declined 25 percent between 2009 and 2021. “(T)he Black prison population has downsized the most …. (With) Black Americans still imprisoned at five times the rate of whites, the crisis of mass incarceration and its racial injustice remain.”

Based on these statistics, Black mothers with adult sons in prison are overrepresented. For example, within my family circle, five of us have had a son in either state or federal prison, and invariably, it fell to us to make the visits, take the collect calls, or send packages and commissary money. When our sons returned from prison, we coped with the fallout: fractured family relationships, recurrent drug or alcohol use, mental health crises, or the effects of prison-based trauma.

My Story

My son, Damon, spent 15 years of his adult life in and out of prison. In 1999, a correctional officer discovered my 35-year-old son non-responsive in his cell at Wende Correctional Facility in upstate New York. His autopsy report listed cause of death as “cardiac arrhythmia secondary to bronchial asthma.”

I was not aware that Damon had any serious medical conditions, so I requested (and received) his medical records (for the year preceding his death) to review for asthma episodes or cardiac events. I did not find any. In addition, I contacted the New York State Commission of Correction for an official report (mandatory for a death in prison), but they did not have one file for Damon.

I spent several years seeking information about his death, including meeting with his friend, Terrence, who was on the cell block at the time of his death. He said other inmates had questioned the veracity of the correctional officer’s account of how he found Damon in the cell. When I told Terrence about the autopsy findings, he told me that Damon had never mentioned any serious health issues.

I was devastated by the death of my bright and funny son, who admittedly had made wrong choices, but loved his family, and was beloved by them. In the years since his death, I authored a book (yet unpublished) about my experiences as the mother of an inmate.

From 2013 to 2017, I published, Outside the Walls: One Mother’s Voice (OMV), a blog targeting Black mothers with sons in prison. I also produced In the Name of Justice (2018-20222), a biweekly podcast covering racial and criminal justice issues.

In an OMV post, dated August 12, 2013, I wrote, “I know first-hand the emotional, mental, and physical harm that having a son in prison can create for their mothers. We live in constant anxiety and sadness. We hold little faith that prisons will do more than warehouse our sons. We worry about mistreatment by prison officials. We fear that upon parole they will not find meaningful employment.

“Most of our sons will leave prison, but ill-equipped for the challenges of and changes in life on the outside.”

Post Incarceration Syndrome

My research for the podcast led me to Terence T. Gorski, a specialist in relapse prevention and addiction, who coined the term, Post Incarceration Syndrome (PICS) in 2001. He stated that “…. 60% of prisoners have been in prison before and there is growing evidence that the (PICS) is a contributing factor to this high rate of recidivism.

“PICS can have different effects on a person, ranging from depression and anxiety to difficulty adjusting to life outside prison and struggling to maintain relationships.”

Gorski’s theory helped me understand the challenges Damon faced adjusting to life on the outside during two times on parole. While formerly incarcerated individuals often get housing or employment assistance, there are limited treatment options for mental health issues or drug and alcohol abuse.

Without such counseling or mentoring, they flail about unprepared, or unable, to navigate the complexities and hardships of post-prison life. Likewise, mothers who support them have nowhere to turn for advice on managing a son’s angry outbursts, unexpected disappearances, or mood swings.

The Carceral State

At the time my son began his first upstate “bid,” no member in the family (that I knew of), had served time in prison, hence I was woefully ignorant of the unequal treatment Black men (and women) receive under the criminal justice system--from arrest to incarceration. In addition, years of visiting my son in jail and prison exposed the cracks in “the system.”

To educate myself, I devoured books on criminal justice, such as Mass Incarceration on Trial, Prison Profiteers, and Invisible Punishment. I read about over policing in Black communities, overly zealous (white) prosecutors, coerced plea bargains, unfair sentencing practices, unsafe and deplorable conditions in prisons and jails, and the impacts of structural violence, which led to America leading the world in mass incarceration.

I learned about the collateral consequences for the families of those in the custody of the state. The National Institute for Justice stated, “Family members of incarcerated individuals are often referred to as "hidden victims" …. (who) receive little personal support and do not benefit from the systemic societal mechanisms generally available to direct crime victims ….”

There are 5.7 million children under the age of 18 with a parent in jail or prison.

According to TSP, “Studies report numerous negative outcomes for children as a consequence of parental incarceration, ranging from depression and anxiety to aggression and delinquency depending on circumstances such as the child’s age and the length of a parent’s incarceration.”

A decades-long Chicago study of the effects of a son’s incarceration on a mother’s well-being concluded, “…. incarceration may result in an increased burden of caring for grandchildren, which can have adverse effects on psychological well-being. The burden of grandparenting may be present whether or not the grandmother is the primary caregiver….

“The more recent the incarceration, the greater the mother’s distress. This finding is important considering the high …. rates of incarceration, especially in African American communities …. our findings continue to highlight the importance of stressful events that occur to family members …. and to consider incarceration as a major source of stress to African American families.”

Wista JohnsonJune 14, 2024