It Validation of the "scale of concerns of imprisoned parents with regards to their children"

Abstract

The way of practising and expressing parenthood of people in prison is completely different from the experience of the rest of the population. This study aims to find out the main concerns of imprisoned parents with regards to their children. 122 fathers and mothers participated (respectively 80.3% and 19.7%) from two prisons in Northern Italy (M=44.10 years, range 24-75). The "Scale of concerns of imprisoned parents with regards to their children” was adapted from Spanish to Italian. After exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, three factors were obtained with a good fit index (RMSEA=.06; CFI=.98; TLI=.97; SRMR=.05) and a high overall reliability (α=.95). These factors were: fear of rejection and distancing from children (α=.94); fear for childrens’ wellbeing and the development of disruptive behaviours (α=.80); concern about the emotional impact of paternal or maternal absence (α=.78). Significant differences were found according to crime, nationality, age, sentence length, maintaining parents-child contact before and during imprisonment, visits and phone contact with children, relationship with the primary caregiver. Perceived concerns vary between parents convicted for mafia crimes and for ordinary crimes. Younger parents have greater concerns. Maintaining contact with the children by telephone or visits reduces the level of concern. A negative relationship with the primary caregiver increases fear of distancing. Urgent measures should be taken to preserve children’s right to maintain regular contact with their parents and to enable fathers and mothers to keep contributing to their offspring´s integral development.