Better use of technology in prisons would improve family relationships and, ultimately, a detainee’s prospects of transitioning successfully back into society.
And UNE researcher Dr Lukas Carey should know. He was incarcerated for a year himself and now manages the reintegration of former prisoners in Western Australia.
In a study just released, Lukas and colleagues Dr Caroline Doyle from UNSW and ANU Law graduate Joanna Cui concluded that much more could be done to support the invisible victims of the criminal justice system – the children of incarcerated parents. They are at greater risk of experiencing socio-economic disadvantage and can suffer poor mental and physical health, especially the children of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who are more likely to be jailed.
The researchers believe there is one cheap and easy measure that could help. They want to see in-cell communication devices, like digital tablets, introduced throughout Australian corrective services to keep parents remain connected with their children. It would make permanent the ‘video visits’ introduced during the height of the COVID pandemic.
Limits of time and distance
“During my prison term in Victoria, six years ago, two of my three children were in Perth and visited just twice,” Lukas said. “There is the cost and time limits of phone calls (capped at 12 minutes per person per day), the incompatibility of face-to-face visiting hours, the mental and physical anguish of not being able to see your children, and them not being able to see that you are safe. You are still their parent and the current system does little to bring families together.
“My youngest child experienced significant separation anxiety when I returned home. It’s as though the system does not consider family relationships or the wellbeing of families important until the assessment for parole.”
It’s as though the system does not consider family relationships or the wellbeing of families important until the assessment for parole.
Since his release, Lukas has completed a Master of Criminology and now lectures within UNE’s Centre for Rural Criminology. His lived and living experience provides a valuable contribution to research and future policy development.
“I worked three jobs in prison simply to afford to speak to my kids often,” Lukas said.
“Guys would get off a phone call to their family and break down, and it’s dangerous to show that vulnerability.
“They need a safe, private place to show emotion, not lining up with dozens of others to have public conversations with their families. The technology – like Facetime or video calls – already exists; it’s the mindset that needs to change.”
And it could save money and heartache in the longer term.
