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Race, Incarceration, and Motherhood: Spoiled Identity Among Rural White Mothers in Prison

Beth A. Easterling1 and Ben Feldmeyer2

Abstract Extant research on maternal incarceration has focused either on mothers as a whole (not disaggregated by race) or on the experiences of urban Black mothers, with relatively little focused attention on the experiences of their White counterparts. This study expands research on incarceration and its effects using qualitative interviews to explore how prison shapes identity construction among an understudied population—rural White mothers. Mothers in our sample expressed histories of family problems and drug use. Uniquely, we explore findings from a framework of “spoiled identity” for both the mothers themselves and their children as a result of their incarceration.

Keywords parental incarceration, mothers, race, spoiled identity

Beginning in the 1980s, the United States entered an age of mass incarcera- tion that has been unmatched throughout American history. Public fear of crime and support for “get tough on crime” policies helped spark a prison

1Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA, USA 2University of Cincinnati, School of Criminal Justice, OH, USA

Corresponding Author: Beth A. Easterling, Criminal Justice Program, College of Business and Professional Studies, Mary Baldwin University, P.O. Box 1500, Staunton, VA 24002, USA. Email: [email protected]

692791TPJXXX10.1177/0032885517692791The Prison JournalEasterling and Feldmeyer research-article2017

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boom, which has led to a more than 300% increase in the U.S. prison popula- tion over a 30-year period (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2011; Nurse, 2004). Although imprisonment rates have slowed substantially since 2006, just over 2 million individuals remain incarcerated at the federal or state level (Kaeble & Glaze, 2016).

Criminologists have closely documented these changes in imprisonment and the ways they have impacted individuals, communities, and U.S. society more broadly. Although this line of research has traditionally focused on males, researchers have increasingly recognized the importance of studying women in prison, maternal incarceration, and the effects of imprisonment on motherhood roles, mother–child relationships, and family dynamics (i.e., Allen, Flaherty, & Ely, 2010; Arditti & Few, 2008; Barnes & Stringer, 2014; Berry & Eigenberg, 2003; Celinska & Siegel, 2010; Enos, 2001; Giallombardo, 1966; Gido, 1992; Owen, 1998; Young & Reviere, 2006). Although numeri- cally smaller than male inmate populations, the number of women and moth- ers in prison has greatly expanded with the prison boom at the turn of the 21st century. Approximately 75% of all incarcerated women have at least one child (Richie, 2002), and the population of incarcerated women increased by over 700% from 1980 to 2010 (Carson, 2013), resulting in more than 65,000 mothers behind prison bars by 2010.

Beyond its effects on the women themselves, this growth in maternal incarceration is also likely to have substantial impacts on children and fami- lies of incarcerated mothers, which is an issue of concern for both scholars and policy makers. Research indicates that mothers in prison were often the primary caretakers for their children prior to incarceration (Dallaire, 2007; General Assembly of the Commonwealth of PA, 2011; Greene, Haney, & Hurtado, 2000; Johnson, 2006). Thus, a mother’s imprisonment often leads to a host of changes for their children and family relationships, living situations, custody arrangements, children’s school enrollment and attendance, as well as shifts in work and financial situations for relatives and caretakers taking on new childcare responsibilities during a mother’s incarceration (Grella & Greenwell, 2006; Snyder, Carlo, & Coats Mullins, 2002).

Furthermore, despite growing scholarly attention to maternal incarcera- tion, existing research has given much less attention to the way that race contextualizes and intersects with experiences of maternal incarceration. With few notable exceptions (i.e., Barnes & Stringer, 2014), prior research has often focused on incarcerated mothers in general, not disaggregated by race (Allen et al., 2010; Celinska & Siegel, 2010), or when race is considered, studies have often focused on maternal incarceration among African American communities and families (Arditti, 2012; Young & Reviere, 2006). In contrast, there is a scarcity of research exploring the unique experiences

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and effects of incarceration among mothers of other race groups, particularly White mothers, which is the focus of the current study.

Exploring the incarceration experiences of White mothers may be particu- larly fruitful for expanding knowledge on maternal incarceration, given that White women account for the largest group of female inmates in the U.S. penal system (Carson & Sabol, 2012). As we review in the following sec- tions, White mothers also enter prison with different offense profiles and dif- ferent socioeconomic, geographic, and cultural backgrounds than other race/ ethnic groups, which are likely to shape the effects and experiences of impris- onment. In addition, research on “spoiled identity” and labeling processes suggests that, while incarceration has strong stigmatizing effects for all moth- ers regardless of race, the rural and small town backgrounds of many White mothers in prison may contribute to different and perhaps particularly pro- nounced “spoiling” effects on the women’s identity and self-concepts (Harris, 1976; Hirschfield, 2008; Jensen, 1972; Lebel, 2012; Pattillo, Weiman, & Western, 2004).

The current study addresses these issues and extends research on women’s incarceration and maternal incarceration by exploring the effects and experi- ences of imprisonment for a sample of White mothers. Specifically, we use open-ended interviews with 42 incarcerated White mothers from rural areas (in Kentucky) to examine maternal incarceration for this understudied group. In doing so, the current study offers broad appeal to audiences interested in corrections, mass incarceration, labeling and identity construction, and their intersections with gender, race, and family. In the following sections, we review the literature on incarcerated parents and highlight gaps in prior research, focusing on themes of motherhood, race, and spoiled identity. Following a brief discussion of our methods, we draw on our interview data to identify the experiences and themes that emerge among this unique popu- lation and conclude by describing the implications of these findings for research on maternal incarceration and for broader criminological and socio- logical themes.

Parental Incarceration

With the dawn of mass incarceration, parental imprisonment has expanded to record numbers in the United States. Between 1991 and 2007, the population of incarcerated parents grew by nearly 80% to include more than 65,000 mothers and 740,000 fathers in state and federal prison (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2009; Glaze & Maruschak, 2008). Research indicates that such incarceration has a host of consequences for parents, including deteriorating physical and mental health, increased financial problems, increased concern

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over the well-being of their children, and strained or severed relationships with family, friends, and support networks (Arditti & Few, 2008; Celinska & Siegel, 2010; Hoffman, Byrd, & Kightlinger, 2010; Maruna, LeBel, & Lanier, 2004; Poehlmann, 2005; Young & Reviere, 2006).

Imprisonment also greatly impacts parental identities, roles, and responsi- bilities, which often have profound implications for both the incarcerated parent and their families. Once parents enter prison, they are forced to rede- fine their identities as mothers and fathers as they try to “parent from prison” (Benedict, 2009; Clement, 1993; Snyder et al., 2002). Additionally, the con- sequences of incarceration may be particularly pronounced for mothers who often face substantial guilt, negative feelings, and emotional strains as they try to negotiate dual roles as both “parent” and “inmate” (Arditti & Few, 2008; Benedict, 2009; Greene et al., 2000; Imber-Black, 2008). As a result, mothers may experience a form of double jeopardy upon incarceration.

Even in the free world, women are often socialized into unrealistic expec- tations about mothering, in which they are expected to innately be “good mothers” (Enos, 2001). However, being incarcerated makes these ambitious expectations about motherhood even more unattainable (Arditti, 2012). Through the incarceration process, mothers’ identities are challenged or replaced by a new “criminal” master status, which serves as an additional barrier to mothering by impinging on women’s abilities to maintain ties and influence in the lives of their children. Yet, many women continue to feel the pressure of strong expectations to uphold motherly duties while incarcerated and see motherhood as key to their survival and motivation for success (Benedict, 2009; Shamai & Kochal, 2008). As a result, these strains and expectations often exacerbate the negative experience of prison itself, result- ing in further consequences for both the mothers and children (Owen, 1998). Yet, we know relatively little about how these experiences and outcomes of maternal incarceration intersect with race, a topic which we turn to below.

Race and Maternal Incarceration

Researchers have long recognized the substantial differences in both levels of imprisonment across race and in the ways that race shapes the experiences and effects of incarceration (see Young & Reviere, 2006). Likewise, although it has received far less attention, scholars acknowledge that race may also play a key role in shaping maternal incarceration. As a starting point, White children are much less likely to experience maternal incarceration than Black children (Siegel, 2011). Furthermore, researchers suggest that the effects and experi- ences of incarceration may vary for mothers and families of different race/ ethnic groups. For example, Enos (2001) explains that once incarcerated,

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White mothers tend to receive less familial support and are more likely to be viewed as a caretaking “burden” when compared with Hispanic and African American mothers. Specifically, she notes, “Caretaking of children by family members may be done out of normative obligation in the case of minority families and out of necessity with resistance in white families” (Enos, 2001, p. 39). However, in contrast to these arguments, other research suggests that there is greater parity in the consequences and conditions of maternal incar- ceration across race (see Barnes & Stringer, 2014; Bresler & Lewis, 1983). Outside of these notable exceptions, the connections between race and mater- nal incarceration have received little focused attention and remain largely speculative, or when race is considered, research has focused on the prison experiences and outcomes for African American mothers and their families (e.g., Siegel, 2011). As a result, far less is known about the experiences and effects of incarceration among mothers of other race groups, including Whites who account for nearly 50% of all incarcerated women (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2011).

Notably, imprisonment may carry somewhat unique experiences and implications for White mothers and their families. First, White mothers may have different offense profiles, histories, and pathways to imprisonment com- pared with other female inmate populations. For example, White inmates are approximately 20 times more likely to report methamphetamine use than Black inmates (Karburg & Mumola, 2006), particularly among young White women from the south and west (Iritani, Hallfors, & Bauer, 2007). White incarcerated women have a higher likelihood of growing up in nuclear fami- lies, with the onset of criminal activity stemming from situational factors like acting out and/or running away from home (Barnes & Stringer, 2014; Enos, 2001). In addition, prior research indicates that once incarcerated, White women in prison are less likely to have close, emotional contact with their families than African American women (Enos, 2001), in part due to the greater distances between home and prison for White female inmates (Bresler & Lewis, 1983).

Second, due to broader patterns of racial segregation and division in U.S. society, White mothers also often enter prison from different “social worlds” (locations, cultures, socioeconomic circumstances) than Black and Latino mothers, which are likely to shape the impact and experience of incarcera- tion. Although many White women in prison have experienced a history of poverty and structural hardship, they rarely face the extreme types of concen- trated disadvantages found in some inner-city communities (Peterson & Krivo, 2005; Wilson, 2009). White mothers are more likely to be from rural communities and small towns compared with Black or Latino women in prison, which offer a different type of socioeconomic and cultural backdrop

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to their history of offending, their family dynamics, and their opportunities for reintegration or recidivism (Healey, 2006) and contextualize the experi- ence of maternal incarceration in unique ways for White mothers and their families.

Third, research on “spoiled identity” (Goffman, 1963, p. 130) and label- ing processes (Braithwaite, 1989; Jensen, 1972) suggests that, while all mothers in prison face harsh stigma and labeling due to incarceration, White mothers and their children may experience particularly strong shifts in identity and self-concept as a result of maternal incarceration (Harris, 1976; Hirschfield, 2008; Jensen, 1972; Koita & Triplett, 1998; Lebel, 2012; Siegel, 2011; Wynn, 2001). As Harris (1976) explains, Whites and Blacks have been divided into two distinct caste-like social worlds on an ascriptive basis that essentially guarantees Whites full social membership while routinely denying Blacks the same status (see also Lebel, 2012). Thus, the potential loss of this status for Whites labeled “deviants” or “convicts” may have a particularly strong spoiling effect on a White inmate’s self-concept, identity, and status because they are faced with the realization of “how far they’ve fallen” (Wynn, 2001, p. 58; see also Lebel, 2012). White positions of privilege and their “full-membership” status in society are suddenly at risk when one is incarcerated and classified as a criminal. In contrast, though Black inmates also face strong stigma from incarceration, the criminal label may carry less additional weight for Black inmates over and above the severe types of social exclusion, discrimina- tion, and disadvantaged social positions that Black populations already routinely face in U.S. society.

Empirical research offers some support for spoiled identity arguments. In his seminal study on spoiled identity, Harris (1976) finds that status and identity among White inmates are heavily influenced by incarceration, while Black inmates’ self-concepts are more insulated from incarceration effects (see also Jensen, 1972). Research by Lebel (2012) indicates that Whites who were formerly incarcerated report greater perceptions of per- sonal stigma and experiences of discrimination resulting from incarceration than Black or Latino individuals. Similarly, Hirschfield (2008, pp. 594, 597) finds that official sanctions and criminal labeling have more limited effects on identity and self-image among Black youth, particularly in disad- vantaged urban communities where arrest was sometimes seen as “a normal part of adolescence” or as “bumps on the road to adulthood” (also see Anderson, 1999; Braithwaite, 1989; Clear, 2007). In addition, Koita and Triplett (1998) find that White females reported the most negative self- appraisals and most negative appraisals from others in response to delin- quency compared with men or women of other race groups. Recent research

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by Barnes and Stringer (2014), however, suggests that mothering identity salience is not significantly different across race.

Taken together, even with the exception of Barnes and Stringer (2014), these findings suggest that identity and self-esteem for White females may be particularly susceptible to effects of incarceration. Yet, outside of several noteworthy studies (e.g., Barnes & Stringer, 2014; Bresler & Lewis, 1983; Enos, 2001), it is unclear how these effects are experienced among mothers in prison and especially among White mothers from rural communities.

The current study seeks to address this gap in research and the other ques- tions identified above by examining the experiences of imprisonment among a sample of 42 White mothers from rural areas—an understudied population, even among incarcerated mothers. In doing so, we seek to extend knowledge of the effects of imprisonment for families, mothers, and women more broadly, while also exploring the way these experiences intersect with race. To address these issues, we rely on a qualitative exploration of maternal iden- tity among a group of White incarcerated mothers, which is described in the following sections.

Method

Information for this research is drawn from open-ended interviews conducted with 42 women incarcerated at the Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women (KCIW) Peewee Valley, Kentucky, in 2011.1 KCIW is Kentucky’s only prison for women with an institutional capacity of 713 and an operating capacity of 691. Among the women incarcerated at KCIW in 2011, approxi- mately 33% were convicted on violent offenses, 30% drug-related, 21% fraud-related, and about 13% for property offenses (Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women, 2011)

The population of KCIW has a somewhat unique racial and sociodemo- graphic profile compared with many other women’s prisons in the United States. During 2011, 85% of the inmates were White, 13% were classified as African American, and 2% were classified as “other” races (Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women, 2011). Further, many of the women in KCIW and in our sample lived in rural areas prior to incarceration. Thus, while the typical image of an incarcerated mother in both research and public perception is a minority mother from an urban area, the rural White composi- tion of KCIW and of our research sample offers a distinctly different image of maternal incarceration and an opportunity to tap into a group of incarcer- ated mothers that has received less focused scholarly attention.

Over the course of eight visits to KCIW in 2011, the lead author inter- viewed 49 mothers incarcerated at KCIW who volunteered to participate in

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this study. Thirty-five of these women were interviewed individually and 14 were interviewed in group settings (seven women in each group). For privacy purposes, detailed demographic and offense history information was col- lected only for the mothers participating in individual interviews. Due to our focus on White maternal incarceration, the sample for the current study includes only the White mothers interviewed in the individual (n = 32) and group settings (n = 10).

The mothers who were interviewed individually in our sample ranged in age from 24 to 51 with an average age of 34.5. With respect to offense type, 11 of these women were incarcerated on drug offenses, with the remaining women reporting convictions for property (3), violent (6), fraud (10), and unknown (2) offenses. The women in our sample indicated they had between one and five biological children, with most (16) mothers reporting two chil- dren. Nineteen mothers lived with at least one of their children immediately prior to incarceration and nine did not live with any of their children leading up to their incarceration; the living arrangements of mother and child prior to incarceration is unknown for the remaining four participants.

The mothers in our study were recruited using a convenience sample. The study was advertised via flyers in common areas at the prison in which KCIW requested volunteers to participate in a project titled “Motherhood Research.” As in all convenience samples, it is plausible to assume that the participants in our study do not reflect a random selection of mothers in KCIW. Instead, our sample is likely to include women with greater motivation to discuss mothering and greater interests in issues related to motherhood. Generally speaking, this selection process presents two caveats for our study. First, the sample did not include any women who may have children but do not con- sider themselves mothers. Second, women who felt uncomfortable discuss- ing their experiences as an incarcerated mother may have been less likely to volunteer, potentially limiting the range of responses and perspectives of mothers included in our sample.

The individual interviews relied on open-ended questions organized in loosely structured schemes to discuss aspects of family life and “mothering” while in prison. Sample questions included “When was the list time you saw your children?” “What is your primary form of contact with your children?” “How do you fulfill your roles as a mother while incarcerated?” “Do your children know where you are?” “Do your children tell others where you are?” “How do you explain your situation to your children?” and “What is the most difficult part of being a mother while you are in prison?”

KCIW does not permit researchers to use electronic devices (including computers or recorders) during interviews. Thus, the women’s responses were handwritten. Immediately following each interview, the interviewer

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made extensive notes that were expanded at the end of each interview day. All respondents are identified only by pseudonyms in notes and in the publi- cation of results. The notes were transcribed to an electronic copy, from which the researchers used open coding to highlight key themes and concepts.

Findings

Analysis of the interviews yielded four major maternal incarceration themes commonly encountered and expressed within our sample: (a) issues related to family history prior to incarceration, (b) a focus on drugs, (c) negative feel- ings and emotions, and (d) effects on minor children. Each of these themes is discussed and summarized below. We note that several of these themes and experiences are consistent with previous research on women in prison and maternal incarceration, including the focus on drugs, family history, and challenges of mothering behind bars. Yet, our findings also indicate that the women’s rural and small town backgrounds contributed to some unique experiences of spoiled identity and led to stigmatization (for both the women and their families) in ways that have received less attention in prior work.

Family History Prior to Incarceration

The women interviewed in our sample described two distinct types of family histories and backgrounds prior to their incarceration. Similar to prior research (i.e., Celinska & Siegel, 2010; Greene et al., 2000), some of the women described histories of abuse, poverty, and negative family back- grounds. In contrast, other women provided vastly different accounts in which they described living in conventional families with ample support, making their offending somewhat of an anomaly.

Nine of the women interviewed reported exclusively negative family his- tories, detailing parental neglect, abuse, and drug use. Jill exemplifies a par- ticipant who attributed her negative family history as the primary “reason” for her path to prison. She talked about her mother’s and grandmother’s her- oin addictions as well as her own battle with heroin. She explained that both her mother and her grandmother overdosed, 20 years apart, and her mother actually overdosed while incarcerated. She directly linked her own patterns of drug use to her family history, and felt she was socialized into drug addic- tion, noting that, “My family life was horrible growing up, and you see how I turned out.”

Another woman, Brandy, described an extensive history of physical, men- tal, and sexual abuse contributing to her pathway to prison. At the time of the

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interview, Brandy was 33 years old with two children; she was missing her two front teeth. She explained that her parents were very neglectful when she was young and put her up for adoption at age 11. She was never adopted and grew up in the foster care system. She still knows who her parents are, but they have not been a part of her life. She also admitted that she had made “poor decisions” (drug use) that landed her in prison. When asked if she thought that her problems with her parents had anything to do with her bad decisions, she responded,

My life and growing up . . . my uncle raped me. My dad abused me. I’ve been neglected my whole life . . . Now I have abandonment issues . . . Now I’m an adult and I know right from wrong, but it’s all still a part of me.

She went on to explain how she has had many abusive relationships, includ- ing the ex-boyfriend who knocked out her front teeth while he was drunk. Describing the incident, her voice lowered and she avoided eye contact, seemingly embarrassed. She said that she wanted to get them fixed and would not give up on living a better life in spite of her terrible past, but she did not know how to move forward because she had no money or health insurance.

In contrast to these examples, many of the interviewed incarcerated moth- ers said that their families were not involved in criminal activities. Specifically, 14 of the mothers in our study indicated that they came from supportive and stable families who did not use drugs, were not poor, and had little or no his- tory of offending.

Sandra, a mother of two in prison for fraud, explained that her family did not have a history of criminal activities. She said she had lived “The American Dream,” working in accounting at a nonprofit organization prior to her incar- ceration. She said that she developed severe back problems, which resulted in surgery and use of prescribed pain medication. Eventually, she became dependent on the pain pills and stole from her company to pay for illegally obtained drugs. She was insistent that she had lived a good life up until that point and was not socialized into a drug or criminal culture. As a result, her addiction and incarceration created a particularly poignant source of distress and guilt because of the negative impact it had on her family and the fact that it contrasted so sharply with their expectations.

Jocelyn, a 26-year-old mother in prison on a drug charge, also discussed how her family did not teach her any kind of criminal behavior. Although she had some distant relatives with criminal records, she said that her immediate family had no criminal history. She explained that her mother was a good person who helped her through difficult times, and her immediate family was loving and supportive, even through her incarceration. She admitted she had

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a drug problem, but was insistent that it was not her parents’ fault. She said that her mother had never tried drugs, telling a story of how her mother once tried a cigarette because of peer pressure from a boy but got sick afterward.

Taken together, the accounts offered by the mothers in our sample depict a dichotomy in family backgrounds and histories that both supports and devi- ates from prior research. Mirroring prior research on women in prison, some of the mothers had experienced long family histories of abuse, poverty, and criminal influences. Yet, most of the women from our sample of mothers in prison explained that they came from loving and supportive families who were “nothing like us.” In these cases, their incarceration contributed to a magnified sense of stigma, shame, and tarnished self-concepts as the women compared themselves to their “good” family members—a point which we return to in our later discussion of “spoiled identity.”

Drug Use

Again echoing prior research on women in prison, many of the women in our sample reported experiences with drug use and abuse (see Allen et al., 2010; Carson & Golinelli, 2013; Celinska & Siegel, 2010; Enos, 2001; Women’s Prison Association, 2009). Although the interviewer did not specifically ask about drugs, the women often volunteered information about substance use during the course of the interviews, and approximately one third of the women participating in the individual interviews (11 of 32) were incarcerated for drugs (Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women, 2011). Most of the women convicted on other charges also admitted to abuse of illegal drugs, often blaming their drug addictions for their incarceration. The women most commonly reported using methamphetamines, prescription pills, and heroin, reflecting the types of drug use more common in the rural, White communi- ties where they lived prior to incarceration, and contrasts with recent descrip- tions of the crack cocaine use more commonly found among mixed-race samples of incarcerated mothers (Allen et al., 2010).

An overarching theme expressed by these women was a perception that drug addicts are not “bad people.” The women offered several different argu- ments to explain their patterns of drug use. Several of the women said they used drugs to cope with or escape from the strains and difficulties in their lives, including the guilt they felt for being incarcerated and away from their children. Many of the women in our sample tried to normalize drug use within the incarcerated community, suggesting that the other “real criminals” in prison also have roots in drug addiction and likely participated in violence or theft to support their drug habits. The women incarcerated for drug crimes also defined themselves as being different than the other people in prison and

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said that they were not really criminals (for similar strategies of “disassocia- tion from prisoner identity,” see Celinska & Siegel, 2010, p. 460). Instead, many of the women described themselves as being “sick” (i.e., Jocelyn, a 26-year-old mother of two; Jill, a 34-year-old mother of four; Catherine, a 46-year-old mother of two) and, thus, needing help, not punishment. To fur- ther differentiate themselves from other inmates, several of the women also said that they loved their kids more than the “bad” people and the women involved in “worse” or “real” crimes.

Women convicted of drug crimes offered a variety of anecdotal evidence to show how they loved their children and to explain why their drug involve- ment had nothing to do with that love. Catherine, a 46-year-old mother of three adult sons, expressed her thoughts on the differences in parenting styles between drug addicts and “the others” at KCIW. She shared,

The ones of us who are drug addicts love our kids more than anything in the world . . . drug addiction keeps us from being the parents we want to be . . . I have a friend who has been in the system a long time and we both feel the same way about our children. We love them, but we are drug addicts.

She largely blamed the prison (more so than drug use) for many of her prob- lems in dealing with family and reintegrating to the outside world, explain- ing, “If you didn’t have problems before you got here, you will after you’ve been here!” She repeatedly focused on what she did right as a mother, and downplayed any criminal aspect of drug addiction. When Catherine was asked what she thought was the most important thing for others to know about families experiencing incarceration, she immediately turned the topic specifically to people incarcerated on drug charges. She wants others to know that not everybody who is a drug addict “lives under a bridge or is dirty, nasty or a junky . . . not a bag-lady-type person.”

Shame and Other Negative Feelings and Emotions

As found in prior research on female incarceration (i.e., Allen et al., 2010; Celinska & Siegel, 2010), all of the women in our sample experienced some type of shame, negative emotions, and/or mental strain as a result of their imprisonment. However, the fact that they were mothers in prison led to a particularly pronounced sense of shame and “spoiled identity” for both the women and their families. Furthermore, they suggested these feelings were magnified due to the rarity of incarceration in their small town and rural home communities. As illustrated in prior research, the incarcerated mothers experienced significant distress from their personal feelings of inadequacy in

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falling short of the culturally defined ideal of a “good mother” (Arditti, 2012). Consistent with spoiled identity perspectives, our participants focused on the guilt of leaving their kids and the shame that their incarceration brought to their children. They felt their identities as mothers were tarnished and actively worked to find evidence that they were still good mothers, despite the shame and guilt stemming from their incarcerations.

Many women expressed the notion that they continue to let their children down by repeatedly coming to jail and prison. Renee, a 34-year-old mother of two, had no contact with her family since arriving at KCIW in October, 2010. When discussing her situation, she said, “They’re pretty used to me coming to jail . . . I understand there’s a hurt factor . . . I let them down again.” Other women mirrored this idea, including Sara, a 30-year-old mother of two chil- dren who had served several stints in county jails prior to her time at KCIW. She said that she recently received a letter from her daughter telling Sara she is “tired of her jailhouse talk.” Sara remorsefully explained that she always promises she is going to do more positive things for her children while she is incarcerated but does not keep her promises once she gets out, which she saw as severe personal failures and a source of guilt.

Sandra expressed similar feelings of guilt surrounding her incarcera- tion. She said she was not involved in a criminal culture, but instead stole money to support her addiction to prescription pain medication. She said the grief and remorse is so bad, she has had to learn how to turn off her emotions. She shared, “You try to rationalize the best way you can, but, honestly, you carry a lot of shame, guilt, remorse. It results in low self- esteem, depression, and anxiety—I can’t sleep.” She went on to explain how incarceration has taken away her “core,” which is being a mother on a daily basis. Sandra said she knows she deserves to be in prison, but tak- ing her away from her family is punishing her children, which is the pri- mary source of her guilt.

Julie is a 40-year-old mother of two sons, ages 17 and 19. Her 19-year-old son was preparing to join the military at the time of her interview. She expressed pride in her son’s achievements, but talked about feeling bad about being incarcerated during his childhood. She said, “My 19-year-old son is everything I want to be . . . His love [for me] is so unconditional.” She explained that she feels guilty because he loves her so much despite her repeated stints in prison. She also feels guilty that her mother loves her so much and has helped her along the way, despite her repeat incarcerations. Another mother, Jill, said she feels she deserves her imprisonment because of her shortcomings as a mother to her four children, two of whom had not been in her custody since they were infants. When asked what was most challeng- ing about being an incarcerated mother, Jill said,

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For myself, letting go of what I have done . . . and forgiveness . . . letting go of how terrible of a job I did with them [her kids]. But I love them . . . I sleep better at night knowing I have done this time.

Jill felt that the pain of the punishment helped neutralize the pain from her guilt.

In addition, many of the mothers expressed distress and strain from being unable to discipline their children, due in part to their physical separation but also because they felt like they no longer had the right to do so. For example, Debra (a 35-year-old mother of three children under the age of 12) said she could not discipline her children from prison because it is not fair to do so when she is gone. Similarly, Catherine (a 46-year-old mother with three adult children) said she did not discipline her children when she was “locked up” while her boys were younger because she felt guilty. Patricia (a 31-year-old mother of two) explained that she continues to try and talk her kids through tough situations. However, she no longer participates in discipline, even refusing to give her sons’ father advice about what to do with the children while she is away.

Women in our sample suggested they had heightened feelings of shame and stigma due to incarceration, which had tarnished their identity and self- perception, or as Sandra stated, taken away their “core.” Consistent with other accounts of maternal incarceration, many of the mothers interviewed here felt like they should be actively mothering, but could not do so behind bars. They felt guilty for leaving their children and entrusting others to take care of their kids. In addition (and as we describe in greater detail below), the effects imprisonment seemed to contribute to a particularly strong sense of stigma, shame, and “spoiled identity” due to the fact that incarceration, and especially maternal incarceration, was an anomaly in the rural White com- munities from which these women came.

Effects on Children

Among the mothers we interviewed, some of the most salient concerns cen- tered on the ways that their children were affected by having a mother in prison. Living arrangements for their children were primary concerns for most mothers. With few exceptions, most women’s minor children were liv- ing with other family members, which is consistent with previous research on children of incarcerated mothers (Enos, 2001; Grella & Greenwell, 2006; Johnson & Waldfogel, 2004). Still, some minor children of the women in our sample were in foster homes, group homes, or living with nonrelative friends. Most of the mothers lived with their children at some point prior to

Easterling and Feldmeyer 157

incarceration, but almost all of the mothers (including the ones that did not live with their children) expressed how difficult separation from their chil- dren is when they were accustomed to seeing them regularly.

In addition, some of the women’s most consistent and serious concerns surrounded the severe shame and stigma that their children experienced due to their mothers’ incarcerations. As we noted earlier, the women in our study largely came from small towns and rural areas where incarceration of any kind, but especially maternal incarceration, is relatively rare. As a result, the women in our sample were typically among the only people from their com- munities in prison and almost always the only women or mothers who were incarcerated, which quickly became common knowledge among the rest of the community. Many of the women expressed the gravity of this widespread knowledge and the serious consequences it carried for their children.

Jocelyn, a 26-year-old mother of two kids under the age of 10, said that her arrest was on the front page of the local newspaper. Because so many people knew about her conviction, many parents would not let their children play with her children. Jocelyn believed that other members of her community were also involved with drug use. However, she said that imprisonment and formal criminal justice sanctions for drug use in her community were rare and carried severe stigma and social repercussions. As a result, she felt that people from her town deliberately distanced themselves from her family to keep their drug use a secret and avoid the same type of stigmatization.

Other mothers offered similar accounts of communities shaming their families and children, which was a central source of the women’s guilt. One mother, in a group interview, said that her entire community ostracized her family after her incarceration. She said, “Our town was mean. People threw Cokes and a chili dog at my family at a high school football game.” Similarly, other mothers discussed the trauma and embarrassment their incarceration had brought to their families, particularly their children, living in small towns and communities. Once the word was out that a mother was incarcerated, it was often hard for the children to escape the stigma. Another mother told of how her crime was on the local news, which meant everyone in her small community knew that she had stolen jewelry from a client for whom she was working as a housecleaner. She admitted it was difficult watching the entire community stigmatize her children. Another woman from a group interview suggested that incarcerated mothers “like me” (from rural, White communi- ties where incarceration is uncommon) not only have to deal with their own shame but also carry the burden of knowing that their crimes and incarcera- tions have stigmatized their entire family.

A few mothers explained that their families were forced to move to allow their children to escape the stigma and negative repercussion of having an

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incarcerated parent. Holly is a 36-year-old mother of two who has been incar- cerated four times. She explained that during her last two incarcerations, her children moved to another state to live with her brother and sister-in-law. Her children were put in private school and she had no contact with them because her brother and sister-in-law are not permitting the kids to talk to her until she has her “life back on track.” Holly said that her kids were living in an area where most kids’ parents are not even divorced, much less incarcerated. She did not think they talk about her incarceration with others. One mother in a group interview also had children in a private school where no one else has an incarcerated parent. She said she does not think her kids could tell others that she is incarcerated because no one would understand. Similarly, Jocelyn said that her kids could not tell anyone about her location because it would make them “outcasts.” Jocelyn expressed remorse that other parents would not let their children play with her children after her arrest was made public. She said she feels bad that her children are suffering from her mistakes and the fact that they live in what she described as a “snooty” town.

Some mothers did not know exactly what was happening with their chil- dren. In these cases, the children’s caregivers would not communicate with the women and prevented them from contacting their children. For example, Renee had tried repeatedly to get into contact with her children and their caregivers, but without success. She did not know what the caregivers were telling her sons about her incarceration. Even though her children knew she had been incarcerated before, Renee believed that her family was keeping information from her and her children to try and shelter the kids from the negative stigma of having an incarcerated mother.

Notably, the women’s concerns and experiences with stigmatization are highly consistent with themes on spoiled identity, labeling, and their intersec- tion with race. Yet, it appears that these effects are not limited to the women themselves. Rather, maternal incarceration, at least among the rural White populations examined here, seems to have a “spoiling effect” that extends beyond the identities of mothers in prison to also stigmatize their children and families. In fact, the stigmatization of their children and families was often a far greater concern and source of emotional strain for these mothers than their own stigma and criminal label. As described above, having a mother in prison is not commonplace and carries severe stigma in any com- munity, but it was particularly unusual and received magnified attention among the rural White communities of origin for these women. As a result, the children and families of these incarcerated mothers felt that they had become social outcasts in their towns and were subject to particularly strong forms of stigmatization and alienation at being the “kid with the mom in prison.”

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Discussion

As the United States ushered in an era of mass incarceration, there has been no shortage of research assessing the ways that incarceration has impacted individuals, communities, and U.S. society more broadly. Likewise, a rapidly growing body of research has begun to examine the experiences, implica- tions, and consequences of mothering behind bars. Despite increased atten- tion to this issue, important questions remain about maternal incarceration, particularly the ways that race contextualizes the experiences of mothers in prison.

The current study sought to address these gaps in research and extend cur- rent understandings of maternal incarceration by examining the experiences of imprisonment for an understudied population of inmates—White mothers from rural areas. Through a series of qualitative interviews, we identified four major themes that occupied a central focus for rural White mothers in prison and which shaped their identities, self-conceptions, and relationships with their families. These include family history prior to incarceration, drug use, shame and other negative feelings, and effects on children.

Our research reveals some similarities to prior findings on women and mothers in prison. Maternal incarceration among our sample largely resulted from drug involvement (Allen et al., 2010; Enos, 2001; Young & Reviere, 2006). The children of incarcerated women in our study typically lived with family. Some women described histories of poverty, difficult childhoods, and abuse, similar to those described in prior research on women and mothers in prison. In addition, they described feelings of shame and stigmatization stem- ming from maternal incarceration.

Yet, our study also reveals several unique characteristics and experiences among rural White mothers in prison. For example, in contrast to the history of poverty and abuse described by some participants, most women described “good” and supportive family relationships before and during their incarcera- tions. Furthermore, although mothers of all races experience stigma from incarceration (Allen et al., 2010; Celinska & Siegel, 2010), their rural and small town backgrounds appeared to uniquely contextualize these experi- ences and amplify the sense of spoiled identity felt among the women in our sample. In addition, their families and children were also subject to this mag- nified sense of stigma and alienation due to having a mother in prison, a find- ing which has received less attention in prior research. In their small hometowns, incarceration is extremely uncommon, which makes families with an incarcerated mother highly visible and subject to particularly pro- nounced informal sanctions and stigma. The women in our sample described children being saddled with their mother’s criminal records and being known

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as “the kids with a mom in prison,” so much so that in some cases, the chil- dren and families were compelled to move to escape the stigma. Notably, these families’ ability to move in response to this stigma is also important in that it reflects higher levels of resources and social and financial capital not commonly portrayed in prior research on women in prison (i.e., Allen et al., 2010; Celinska & Siegel, 2010).

Overall, these findings hold several key implications. First, in describing the specific experiences of mothers in prison, our results help extend the growing knowledge base on maternal incarceration and women’s imprison- ment experiences more generally. We offer new findings helpful for under- standing intersections of gender, family, and punishment by exploring mothers’ own perceptions of their motherhood identities during incarceration among an understudied demographic group—rural White mothers. In our sample, we found that the motherhood identity was still central to the women in prison, even when they could not be actively involved in daily mothering activities. However, due to their positive family backgrounds (in many cases) and the scarcity of incarceration in their communities, participants described feelings of extreme shame and guilt among themselves and their families.

Second, our findings hold important implications and relevance for themes of spoiled identity. Enos (2001) notes, “Constructing that role [of “good mother”] and identity is a matter of work and active negotiation, not only by the inmate mother, but my many other parties as well“ (p. 42). Thus, threats to the mother identity come from within as well as from external forces. In turn, we view the experience of spoiled identity among our sample of mothers as arising from the individual expectations and experiences of motherhood obtained before incarceration (such as pri- vately and individually mothering children). At the same time, the small rural communities from which these women came also appear to contextu- alize the experiences of stigma and spoiled identity felt by these women and their families. Prior work clearly describes a sense of shame and stigma among incarcerated mothers of all races (i.e., Allen et al., 2010; Celinska & Siegel, 2010); however, our findings are unique in that the sense of spoiled identity seems to stem, at least in part, from the character- istics of the mothers’ home communities, which were not always disadvan- taged or lacking social support. In other words, when incarceration is rare and the gaze and judgment of the community is fixed on them, the women in our sample had a clear sense of “just how far they had fallen” compared to the other residents in their hometowns. In addition, due to this scarcity of incarceration, the impact of the mother’s “fall” appears to send shock- waves into the rural and small town White communities in ways that also severely stigmatize and label their children.

Easterling and Feldmeyer 161

Although this study offers important insights about the experiences of maternal incarceration and the contextualizing role of rural White back- grounds, additional research is needed that builds on the current findings and addresses questions and caveats of the current study. Our research is limited to a single race group—White mothers. As a result, we are unable to make direct comparisons between incarcerated White mothers and those of other races. Many of the findings and comments offered by the women are consis- tent with themes of spoiled identity and suggest unique contextualizing effects on maternal incarceration resulting from their rural, White back- grounds. However, these accounts are not meant to discount the stigma felt by mothers of other race/ethnic groups nor do they suggest that rural, White mothers are the only ones who experience spoiled identity from maternal incarceration. Instead, they are meant to illustrate the important ways in which race and context matter, and in particular the ways that rural, White backgrounds may contextualize (and possibly exacerbate) the spoiling effects of maternal incarceration for mothers and children.

As such, additional research that compares these experiences to other race/ethnic groups (e.g., Black, Latino) from nonrural communities is needed to better establish the ways that differences in race and community context shape experiences of maternal incarceration. Barnes and Stringer (2014) have begun this exploration quantitatively, finding surprisingly little differences in mother identity salience across racial groups. However, further studies like that of Barnes and Stringer are needed to pinpoint similarities and differences in the spoiling effect on identity for mothers from differing social and demo- graphic contexts.

This study is also limited to single place, time, and population. Additional replications are needed to assess the generalizability of these findings and explore whether these accounts of maternal incarceration extend to other populations, states, and more urban environments. Further, our sample was limited to women who identified themselves as mothers and volunteered to participate in the study. Research using a representative sample of women in prison, including those who are mothers but may not identify with the “motherhood” role, may provide somewhat different findings. However, we believe that (if anything) this may conservatively bias our sample by excluding women who were uncomfortable discussing motherhood and may have experienced some of the most extreme role and identity strain.

Although additional exploration of this topic is needed, this research is an important step forward in that it documents the experiences and impacts of maternal incarceration on an understudied population of rural White mothers in prison. Due to the rare nature of incarceration in their extended families

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and small-town communities, the mothers interviewed could not escape the realization of just “how far they had fallen” compared to others in their home- towns. Ultimately, the women indicated that this context led to a poignant sense of spoiled identity, not only for themselves but also for their children, who shared in this stigma and felt the full shockwaves of their mothers’ “fall” as they spread throughout the community.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Dr. Lois Presser for her helpful comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript. We would also like to thank the staff of the correctional institution where we gathered our data for their assistance with access for this project, as well as the women who shared their stories.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publi- cation of this article.

Note

1. The Kentucky Department of Corrections (KDOC) was extremely helpful in facilitating this research. However, the findings presented are our own and do not reflect the views of KDOC.

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Author Biographies

Beth A. Easterling, PhD, is an assistant professor and co-director of criminal justice at Mary Baldwin University. Her qualitative research is focused on the impact of incarceration on women and families.

Ben Feldmeyer, PhD, is an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati School of Criminal Justice. His research explores the relationship between race/ethnicity, immigration, social structure, and punishment, with a focus on macro-level Latino and immigrant population patterns of crime and victimization. His recent work has appeared in Criminology, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Sociological Forum, and Social Science Research.