Contaminated memories: How formerly incarcerated mothers remember their pasts and imagine their futures

In this article, we use 15 in-depth interviews with formerly incarcerated mothers to explore an understudied dimension of the punitive nature of system contact: its contamination of memory. Drawing on theoretical scholarship in the sociology of memory, we reveal how contact with both the criminal le...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Punishment & society 2025-01, Vol.27 (1), p.129-146
Main Authors: Richards-Karamarkovich, Arden, Umamaheswar, Janani
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Child welfare
Female offenders
Future
Imprisonment
Intrusion
Legal system
Memories
Memory
Mothers
Narratives
Prisoners
Qualitative research
Reentry
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Summary:In this article, we use 15 in-depth interviews with formerly incarcerated mothers to explore an understudied dimension of the punitive nature of system contact: its contamination of memory. Drawing on theoretical scholarship in the sociology of memory, we reveal how contact with both the criminal legal system and the child welfare system defined participants’ worst maternal memories and contaminated even their best maternal memories. In sharp contrast with their retrospective narratives, participants’ imagined futures were notably devoid of references to system contact, even in the form of desistance narratives. These findings, we argue, capture just how invasive contact with punitive state institutions can be, and they suggest that reentry represents a meaningful period during which participants can envision futures that are—at least in their imaginations—free from this intrusion.
ISSN:1462-4745
1741-3095
DOI:10.1177/14624745241263798