“Invisible children” – about social situation of prisoners children

Children of prisoners in Poland are ignored not only by researchers, but also by the practitioners connected with resocialization. There is still lack of research which would diagnosis social situation of prisoners children and institutions which would support and help them. All of this makes children of prisoners “invisible”. That’s why the main aim of my quality researches, which I had conducted in years 2013-2014 was diagnosed the social situation of prisoners families, including their children. I had realized interview both with prisoners wife’s and life partners (32 persons) and their children (12 persons), in the place of their residence. I divided tested families on such which have contact with convicted and such which hadn’t contact with him. Convicted husbands/ life partners and fathers were held in different kinds and types of prisons. The research sample were selected in differential way to capture the variability of the families social situation. Selected families were also in different social position. This allowed me to distinguish and characterize the three types of social situation in which are the families of prisoners, including children: (1) The social situation of the family focused on supporting the resocialization of the prisoners, (2) The social situation of the prisonized, which is in opposite to the process of resocialization, (3) social situation of the family focused on the reconstruction of their own social environment