IN-CJ Newsdesk 2024 – Insights from the ‘Inside Mum’ Project

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In this discussion, Rachel Wood, a PhD researcher at the Open University, discusses her innovative project, “Inside Mum.” This presentation, part of the Newsdesk 2024 by the International Network for Criminal Justice (IN-CJ), explores the use of service and co-design in developing parenting education programmes for women who have experienced the criminal justice system. The conversation provides a comprehensive overview of Rachel’s research, its motivations, and its initial findings.

Rachel’s project aims to address the unique needs of incarcerated mothers, a group often overlooked in prison design and rehabilitation programmes. Drawing on a range of theoretical frameworks, including attachment theory and trauma-informed care, Rachel outlines the current gaps in knowledge and practice. She emphasises the importance of gender-responsive and trauma-informed approaches, recognising that many women in prison have histories of relational trauma that significantly impact their pathways into and out of offending.

The discussion highlights several key concerns:

• Designing for a Marginalised Group: With women constituting only 4% of the prison population, their specific needs, particularly as mothers, are frequently neglected. The project seeks to create effective, inclusive programmes that support the unique challenges faced by incarcerated mothers.
• Co-Design and Participatory Methods: Rachel emphasises the value of involving those with lived experience in the design of services, ensuring that the programmes developed are both effective and acceptable to the women they aim to support.
• Research Gaps and Future Directions: The initial scoping review reveals a significant lack of comprehensive research on service co-design for this population. Rachel identifies the need for further primary research and proposes a sequential mixed methods approach to fill these gaps.
• Impact on Policy and Practice: By highlighting the gaps and potential solutions, Rachel’s research aims to inform future policy and practice, promoting more equitable and effective support systems for women in the criminal justice system.

This engaging discussion not only sheds light on the challenges faced by incarcerated mothers but also underscores the importance of innovative, participatory research in creating supportive and rehabilitative environments. For more details on the “Inside Mum” project and to stay updated on its progress, visit the IN-CJ website or follow the network on Twitter.

Insights from the ‘Inside Mum’ Project

How can service co-design be used to improve parenting education for women in the criminal justice system? This was the focus of an IN-CJ Newsdesk 2024 session with Rachel Wood, a PhD researcher at the Open University, who presented her ongoing research project Inside Mum.

Wood explained that while women make up only a small proportion of the prison population, at least half are likely to be mothers. Yet there remains limited knowledge about their experiences as parents, the impact on their children, and how best to support them. The project addresses what Wood called the “2% challenge”—designing services for a small, often overlooked group whose needs are distinct from the majority male prison population.

The Inside Mum project uses service co-design principles, emphasising trauma-informed, gender-responsive, and attachment-aware approaches. Wood described her scoping review of over 3,000 articles, of which only a handful directly addressed co-design in parenting services for women with justice involvement. Emerging themes included the importance of peer support, empowerment, and acceptability of services. Notably, very few studies included logic models or theories of change, making evaluation difficult.

Alongside evidence gaps, Wood highlighted the significance of lived experience voices in shaping services. She shared poetry and reflections from mothers in custody, underscoring the emotional realities of parenting in prison and the impact of separation on both mothers and children. These insights strengthen the case for participatory methods that place women and their families at the centre of programme design.

Looking ahead, Wood outlined her plans for future research: focus groups in 2025, interviews in 2026, surveys in 2027, and a final systematic review leading to her doctoral submission in 2028. She has already begun sharing her journey through blogs and weekly updates, aiming to bridge the gap between academic research, service design, and reform in criminal justice.

The session concluded with a reminder of the human dimension behind the statistics: that understanding and supporting mothers in prison is not only about rehabilitation, but also about preventing intergenerational cycles of disadvantage and giving children the stability they need to thrive.