Should we take the children on a visit?

If you have decided to inform your child about imprisonment, you may wonder whether you should take them on a visit, or how your child would cope in the prison visiting environment. The following article called 'Why Maintain Relationships' discusses the benefits or potential pitfalls of taking a child on a visit. The article was written by an American organisation called the Families and Corrections Network and so is written for Americans visiting American prisons so does not cover all the issues that visiting a prison overseas may bring:

Why maintain relationships? (File size: 67KB) (Courtesy of Families and Corrections Network)

Overseas imprisonment raises additional difficulties - prison conditions may pose concerns (particularly in non-Western countries), language barriers and visiting regulations might be unfamiliar (for example applying for visiting permits if required, such as in some European countries, including France), and the cost of visiting overseas might be high. Please call us to discuss any concerns you may have. We can also inform you about regulations and procedures where possible, and our travel fund can help with a financial contribution to the cost of an overseas visit, provided one of the adult visitors is receiving welfare benefits or has a low income and receives tax credits. We can also sometimes help with finding information about locating the prison and maps, or making suggestions about how to book cheap flights and hotels. Please call us to find out if we can help.

Seeking the views and opinions of the detainee themselves about bringing children on a visit might also be a good way of deciding whether this is a good idea or to find out the correct regulations about doing so. This also has the benefit of involving the person concerned in the decision-making process, as they will often know more about the process and experience of being in the prison than anyone else, and if they know the child well they might be able to judge how well they think the particular child will cope in that environment.

If you have decided to take a child on a prison visit, the following article, 'Visiting Mom or Dad' from the Families and Corrections Network provides some useful tips and advice:

Visiting Mom or Dad (File size: 99KB) (Courtesy of Families and Corrections Network)