“Oh, brother, where art thou?”
When Ashley’s* brother Liam* was arrested, her world fell apart. “I felt like I’d lost a part of me”, she says. Liam was 17 years old when he was sentenced to nine months in one of the four Young Offenders Institutes (YOIs) for boys aged 15 to 17 and young adult men aged 18 to 21 in England and Wales. Aged 14 at the time, Ashley experienced shock, grief, and anxiety about what life would be like for Liam in prison and how their mother, who has a life-limiting illness, would cope.
Ashley is part of a Time-Matters UK peer support group for children with a family member in prison. For almost all of the children and young people in the group, it is their parent who is in the justice system. Those with siblings, like Ashley, feel the same emotions as their counterparts (loss, shame, stigma), but there is a greater sense of isolation and loneliness:
“I don’t know anyone else where it’s their brother. It’s hard feeling like you’re the only one all the time.”
The reality is that Ashley is far from alone. There are around 400 children and young people held in a YOI in England and Wales at any one time, and most of them will have siblings. Despite this, there is very little research looking specifically at the impact on children and young people of having a brother or sister in the justice system, and there are very few resources for children in this situation.
Aware of this gap, Lia Palios-Hayden, Operations Manager for YSS and responsible for the Families First programme which supports children and families in Worcestershire impacted by imprisonment, got in touch.
“I was supporting a young girl whose brother was in prison, and the emotional impact on her was affecting every aspect of her daily life. I couldn’t find any resources to explore these feelings. I came across PRT’s work on Child Impact Assessments for children with a parent in the justice system and immediately thought this would be a great if it was adapted.”
Today PRT is launching those adaptions. The Child Impact Assessment for children with a brother in the justice system acknowledges that sibling relationships can vary enormously from family to family. Some children may not feel very close to their brother; for others, their brother may be like a father or a best friend. Some children hero-worship their brother; others may be scared of him and feel relieved that he is no longer in the family home. For many, the relationship stirs up a complex combination of emotions.
Understanding the kind of relationship a child has with their brother is key to supporting them. Some children may not even be related to the person they call their brother, but the relationship is no less close. In some cases, people around the child may not realise the significance of a brother being absent and may inadvertently minimise the impact by explicitly saying (or implying), “It’s only your brother.” This can make it hard for children to ask for support. Children with complex home situations may feel resentment about being left to cope alone when their brother goes to prison, particularly if they or their brother is a young carer as in Liam’s case. Many children worry about their parents, who in turn are worried about their imprisoned son; this can make it difficult for children to share their feelings, particularly if they feel differently to their parents about what has happened.
As with the original publications, the Child Impact Assessment comes with accompanying notes that give practitioners an insight into the emotions a child might be experiencing, suggestions for actions that might help, and links to other (very limited) resources such as Families Outside’s Knowing your rights to sibling contact and Guide for social workers supporting children with a sibling in prison or care. Although written for the Scottish context, the general information is helpful. Researchers from Newcastle University, with illustrator Jack Brougham, recently published comic sketches about having a family member in prison; Megan’s story is about having a brother in prison.
Transition to Adulthood (T2A) is a Barrow Cadbury Trust programme and campaign making the case to policy makers, practitioners and sentencers for a distinct approach for 18–25-year-olds in the justice system. PRT is a longstanding member of the T2A Alliance which supports T2A’s programme of work and is made up of leading criminal and social justice organisations. Commenting on the new resource, the Barrow Cadbury Trust’s Criminal Justice Programme Manager Laurie Hunte says:
“Young men in prison do not exist in isolation; they are sons, brothers, and some are even young fathers themselves. These resources to support their siblings will help improve outcomes for a group of young people who are currently completely overlooked. It’s like a death for family members, but no one has died so their support needs are not considered.”
The resources published today are about helping children cope with the deep grief and loneliness of having a brother in the justice system and ensuring those affected are listened to, supported, and included in decision-making about that support. In time, they will be adapted for children with a sister in the justice system. For Ashley, these resources will make all the difference to children like her:
“Just having something that mentions ‘brother’, rather than ‘mum’ or ‘dad’, that’s amazing – it’s like it was written for me.”
* Names and identifying details have been changed to preserve anonymity
Sarah Beresford
