This research considers the perspectives of children and their parents/carers regarding the contents of a workbook to prepare children for their first visit to a prison to see a family member. It also contains a literature review which highlights the need for appropriate interventions and strategies to be put into place to support children of prisoners.
The aims of this small-scale research were to elicit the views of children of prisoners and their parents/carers to inform the design of the workbook and also to discuss the difficulties of conducting research with this population. Using semi-structured interviews with children of prisoners and their parents/carers, and applying thematic analysis to the collected responses, five key themes were identified regarding the content of the workbook. These themes were: Inclusion of rules/procedures/prison specific information. Use of drawings and pictures. Child friendly layout. Emotional aspects. Other. Findings from semi-structured interviews are discussed in terms of what the key features of the workbooks should be, the role an Educational Psychologist can have in eliciting children's views and also the key methodological challenges associated with research concerning children of prisoners.
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