Before, behind, and beyond bars: motherhood among previously incarcerated women in the Western Cape

Briscoe, Rebecca Fullerton

Before, behind, and beyond bars: motherhood among previously incarcerated women in the Western Cape

Thesis / Dissertation

2025

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of Psychology

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Abstract

In South Africa, women are a minority of the prison population, but their numbers have significantly increased since 2000, with many being mothers. Despite this rise, the experiences of incarcerated women are under-researched and misrepresented, limiting the knowledge and understanding of these women's narratives of their incarceration and the situations that landed them there. Using an intersectional feminist framework and semi-structured interviews, this study explored how 18 incarcerated mothers in the Western Cape conceptualise and experience motherhood before, during, and after incarceration. The findings of this paper, focus on women, especially mothers, who have been incarcerated, the circumstances which led them to be imprisoned, their family dynamics and their hopes and expectations for their release. Also highlighting the negative impact of South Africa's unequal socio-economic landscape on mothering practices and the increase in criminal behaviour. By challenging patriarchal ideologies and focusing on the voices of participants, this research aims to inform policy and practice makers on how to better support previously incarcerated mothers by revising or creating new frameworks or policies, which will contribute to opening broader discussions on South African mothers who offend. In-prison programmes should be implemented for incarcerated mothers and their families to assist them with supporting one another by focusing on family involvement and support. These programmes should aim to help families cope with having a loved one incarcerated but also to assist in how best to reintegrate the imprisoned woman back into society and back into the family dynamic.