I’m not Invisible: Supporting children living with a parent in prison

About this episode

This episode discusses the challenges faced by children living with a parent in prison and how social workers can support them.

Too often, young people have been the silent victims of the justice system. As our prison population gets bigger, so do the numbers of young people living with a parent incarcerated. They form one of the most overlooked groups in our society, with little known about their needs or experiences. That leads to them being forgotten about when it comes to policy-making and support networks, or even worse, dangerous assumptions, rhetoric and stereotypes formed about them. This episode of Let’s Talk Social Work is dedicated to helping to bring this topic out of the shadows. With a growing body of research now being committed to spotlighting the lived experiences of children with a parent in prison, we’re proudly doing our bit to promote this issue to social workers. As with any professionals, social workers may well meet young people through the course of their practice who are experiencing life with a parent in prison. This discussion will explore ways to support and build trust with young people as well as outline many of the challenges and barriers they might face, based on first-hand accounts from a recent study carried out in Australia. Host Jonny Adamson is joined by one of the…

People in this episode

Host: Jonny Adamson

Guests: Catherine Flynn, Maia Ihemeje, Dr Lorna Brookes

Topics covered

• children of incarcerated parents
• social work
• justice system
• support networks
• lived experiences
• policy-making

Keywords

• incarceration
• youth support
• social work practice
• trust building
• barriers
• research study
• Australia

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Monash University, Yung Prodigy, Time-Matters UK

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