All research and evidence on NICCO is reviewed using a Quality Assessment Tool (QAT) developed by the University of Huddersfield and Barnardo's.
Research and evidence is assessed in four key areas: Methodological Quality, Child-Centredness, Relevance to Policy and Strategy, and Relevance to Practice with offender's children. This ensures that items on the NICCO website are as useful as possible to academics, practitioners, commissioners and other professionals. For more information about the development of the QAT or to review research in order to list it on NICCO, please see the QAT webpage where you can download the Tool, Guidebook and a short step-by-step 'How To' document. Please contact us to submit quality assessed research on to NICCO.
Click on the icons to see a full list of items which have been awarded a standard icon or icon+ (for items which have scored particularly highly) in each key area:
Results 19 - 24 of 26
This paper considers the changes to the incentives and earned privileges (IEP) scheme in adult male prisons that took place in April 2013 throughout England and Wales, specifically how extra visits and family days continue to be offered as a reward for good behaviour.
This is in comparison to the female estate where visiting arrangements are detached from the IEP scheme, due to recognition that incentivising contact is incompatible with meeting the needs of imprisoned mothers and their children. The paper argues that a similar approach should be adopted within the male estate, promoting the rights of the child. This paper presents findings from in-depth interviews with families affected by parental imprisonment in England and Wales conducted as part of the COPING research project led by the University of Huddersfield. The COPING study examined the impact of parental incarceration on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people and involved partners from across four countries; Partners Of Prisoners and Families Support Group (POPS) acted as the UK partner.
See Incentivising Prison Visits below:
Click here
This peer reviewed article refers to the impact of parental imprisonment on children in the USA but can be learned from by authors anywhere.
It looks specifically at the trauma experienced by children of imprisoned parents including key processes such as visits and child care giving. The research utilises a comparison group of similarly disadvantaged, single care-giver families who do not have a parent in prison. The findings show that accounts of child trauma from both the care-giver and child were higher and more likely to be clinical cases amoung those who had experienced parental imprisonment. Looking at processes; visitation was likely to be more problematic and care-giving was more likely to be done by someone other than a biological parent when a parent was imprisoned compared to the other group. Parents' reports of child trauma were most often linked to distressing prison visits thus recommendations around improving visits for children are made. Use your Springer Link log in details to access Parental Incarceration and Child Trauma.
Use open access resource Researchgate to download Parental Incarceration and Child Trauma for free below:
Click here
This report details recommended changes to improve the experience for children visiting prisons.
Based on interviews with mothers and children who visit male prisons, the recommendations are intended to make prison visits as positive as possible for the children and young people involved. Examples of best practice are included throughout the report, as well as a focus on highlighting the concerns of the affected children and families. The report is largely organised according to the six recommendations detailed below:
1. All prisons should view visits as a family intervention, under the remit of reducing reoffending, rather than a security risk.
2. Searches of children and babies should be made more child-friendly and proportionate to the security risks posed.
3. Children's visits to male prisons should be separate from the Incentives and Earned Privileges scheme, as they are for women's prisons.
4. The National Offender Management Service should simplify the form and process for applying to the Assisted Prison Visits scheme.
5. Play facilities and visitor services within prisons should reach a consistent national standard, and the National Offender Management Service should issue guidance for governors, informed by advice from Ofsted.
6. Children should be permitted to bring homework and school reading books into and out of prisons.
Please see Barnardo's Locked Out below:
Click here
This Prison Reform Trust discussion paper considers the sentencing of women with children and provides a number of proposals intended to ensure children are taken into account when it comes to sentencing decisions for mothers.
It begins with a summary of these proposals, then gives a contextual overview of the sentencing of women, looks at mothers and their children affected by the criminal justice system, existing guidance in England and Wales with an account of inconsistent practice, before finally outlining the proposals in greater detail. The paper considers research on mothers' imprisonment, relevant sentencing law, perspectives of imprisoned mothers, consultations with various organisations, and identifies good practice in the UK and internationally in order to inform the discussion. It also includes in Appendix 1 a summary of the Court of Appeal decision in R v Petherick where a defendant's sentence was reduced due to the effect parental imprisonment would have on the defendant's child.
Read more about the Sentencing of Mothers below:
Click here
This short, accessible, children's rights focused article outlines the University of Huddersfield's 2013 COPING study into the mental health and resilience of children of prisoners across Europe.
There is an initial introduction to some of the challenges children with parents in prison face and consideration of how this differs across Europe. The author, who took part in the study, includes insights from the children that he conducted interviews with and includes images of pictures some drew in relation to their parents imprisonment. General recommendations for policy and practice in the criminal justice system, schools and elsewhere are briefly bullet pointed at the end.
You can access Prisons without walls for free from the University of Huddersfield's repository below:
Click here
This article is an exploratory study of the impact of maternal imprisonment on children and adolescents.
Using a comprehensive literature review and preliminary data collection the authors construct a developmental framework to examine the diverse impact of maternal imprisonment on children at differing stages of development. The article presents a number of observations relating to the impact of maternal imprisonment, outlining the implications of these findings and proposing a number of recommendations for improved policy and practice, and further research. Whilst the article is focused on Canada, the findings and implications remain relevant for the U.K.
See Waiting for Mommy below:
Click here
