A Holistic Approach to Prisoners’ Families—From Arrest to Release

Abstract

Some studies have underlined the importance of looking at how families become involved during the various phases of the criminal justice process in order to understand the trajectory of their experiences before, during, and after imprisonment and the impact upon them at each stage (Condry 2007; McDermott and King 1992; Smith 2014; Smith and Gampell 2011). This includes looking at the very different ways in which these stages sometimes function and affect families (depending on the jurisdiction and the family situation): from arrest to investigation, court, and sentencing, through a prison sentence, and on release. As described by Condry: "New responsibilities might emerge at each stage of the criminal justice process. It is important to look at the whole criminal justice process, rather than just focus on the effects of imprisonment on the family; relatives are often very involved with each stage of the investigation and some cases can take years to process from discovery to sentencing" (Condry 2007, 4).