Pregnant and Postpartum Women in Prison: Experiences of Social Ties Within the Total Institution

ABSTRACT

Women who are pregnant and postpartum in prison must deal with their incarceration along with the immense stress of having given birth while inside a total institution. Total institutions can strip individuals of who they are on the outside and disconnect people from the outside world. While the total institution serves to cut people off from the outside, ties between other incarcerated women and those on the outside can persist. For these women, social ties from both with those inside and outside the prison is crucial – positive ties can take the form of friendship, emotional support, practical assistance, or even taking temporary custody of the baby. We consider social ties from those inside and outside the prison in terms of support and strain within the context of the total institution. We consider the effects of positive, negative, and mixed ties and the relationship between incarceration and pregnant and postpartum women’s relationships, which has major implications.

KEYWORDS:

• Social ties
• total institutions
• pregnancy
• prison

Acknowledgments

We thank the anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ellis Frieh

Ellis Frieh, PhD, received their doctoral degree in sociology from Indiana University – Bloomington. Their current research focuses on certified peer specialists in community mental health services. Their research interests include medical sociology, the sociology of mental illness, health care, gender, and qualitative methods. Their work has been published in a variety of journals including Social Science & Medicine, Sociology of Health and Illness, Sexualities, Theoretical Criminology, and Society and Mental Health.

Alicia Suarez

Alicia Suarez, PhD, is a Professor of Sociology at DePauw University. Her research centers the voice of pregnant and postpartum women who are incarcerated at a state prison. She also studies illness experience with Hepatitis C virus amongst people who inject drugs. Her work has been published in the Journal of Correctional Healthcare, Sociology Compass, Symbolic Interaction, Journal of Health Psychology, Substance Use and Misuse, and Research in the Sociology of Health Care.