Children of Incarcerated Women in Brazil: Vulnerability and Traumatic Experiences in Their Lives

This study aims at identifying possible traumatic experiences, feelings, and emotions faced by children of incarcerated women. A structured interview was conducted with 150 incarcerated women at a women's prison in São Paulo State, Brazil. Participants reported a total of 441 children, of which 297 were younger than 12 years old, and their average age was 7.5 years old. 67.4% of the children lived with their mothers at the time of incarceration, and 15.1% had witnessed their arrest. Participants reported that 24.02% of children were sad and 12.7% of them cried very much when their mothers were arrested. 57.3 % of the children were under the care of maternal relatives while their mothers were incarcerated, and in 20% of the cases the father of the child was also incarcerated. Mothers reported that 38.1% of the children were exposed to domestic violence by the father against the mother prior to incarceration. Results indicate several potential situations of vulnerability and trauma experienced by these children before, during, and after their mother's incarceration.