presented by Avraham Hoffmann at the Fifth North American Conference on the Family and Corrections, Bethesda, Maryland, September 1998. A version was published by the FCN Family & Corrections Network Report, Issue 19: 12-18.

Preface: The PRA and its Philosophy

First let me tell you a few words about the PRA:

The Israeli PRA was founded in 1984. It is a state entity, and it is mandated by law to deal with all inmates: male and female, Arab and Jewish, married and single. Participation is voluntary. The PRA offers all inmates an equal chance. By developing programs to fulfil the special needs of different groups of prisoners, we give them the best chance to a successful rehabilitation.

We believe rehabilitation is not a condition achieved after completing a process, but the start of a struggle, with no end and no limits. It says in Genesis (32:24): “And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.” This is the most wonderful description of the rehabilitation process! It may be said thatrehabilitation is a perpetual struggle in which man stands alone in a struggle with himself and with someone else until the breaking of the day (the dawn). And this dawn can be distant, depending from which point in time the struggle began. For those who believe, the feeling is that there is no person who cannot be rehabilitated, and the PRA believes that everyone has a right to a second chance.

We have a duty to open gates – the gates to the hearts wanting to be rehabilitated, to believe that “there is no person who cannot be rehabilitated.” Nevertheless, it should be recognised that not everyone has the power and the ability to achieve the same heights, and that the jumping-off point of each person differs from that of his neighbour. For this reason, the measurement of rehabilitation from a solely statistical standpoint implies reducing the value of a human being to an insignificant number. In spite of this conception, and maybe by virtue of this belief, 81% of the inmates that joint the PRA‘s programs were successfully rehabilitated – they do not use drugs or commit crimes – as opposed to 30% among those that did not participate in rehabilitation programs.

The PRA’s activities begin in jail, from 6 to 3 months before the inmate is released. In case of a married male inmate with children, the PRA becomes involved with the spouse and child almost immediately upon incarceration. After the release from prison the PRA offers a range of programs to suit the different populations of inmates and their needs.

Introduction: The PRA’s obligation to treat the inmates’ family.

Among the law’s (Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority Law, 5743-1983) stipulations, the PRA must work for the rehabilitation of former inmates and their families and for the prevention of recidivism: In section 3.5, it is written, “There is hereby established a Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority, whose functions shall be – … to assist prisoners’ families during and after their imprisonment through the social service offices of local authorities and other bodies.”

The Triangular Program

I shall now refer to our program for the inmates’ families, as we call it The Triangular Program. Before talking about the inmates’ families, we must ask ourselves who are the inmates? And what is their profile?

The average inmate is an individual that has grown since childhood in the streets, in juvenile institutions, or in foster families.

When a child is under age of criminal liability, he is treated by the Therapy and Supervision Juvenile Law (חוק הנוער טיפול והשגחה). When he reaches the criminal liability age (12 years old) he is treated by the Juvenile Law (punishment, judgement and therapy). Very young this child enters the delinquent world, he faces the police, he is exposed to detention houses, closed institutions, drugs and violence. In most cases, he himself is a victim to violence in his family: physical, emotional or sexual, in some cases also incest.

Considering this profile, the inmate becomes a father, in most cases, without having a positive example he could imitate. The education in institutions distorts the image he has of what a family should be. Therefore the expectation that the inmate should become a normative average father is groundless.

Approximately a third of the Israeli inmates are family men. They have all together a few thousands of children. The population of drug addicted inmates that are parents is a multi-problem population, often characterised by socio-economic distress and primary lacks. The return to community is traumatic for the inmate and his family, no less than the incarceration itself. A family reunion with no preparation may be devastating and become a violent confrontation.

At first sight, the diagnosis looks very negative. Observing this issue from the right angle, we could say that the incarceration crisis puts the family on a cross-roads, from which it can either chose the way to become ruined and devastated or the way to get rebuilt and healed. The trial to find the way to a positive recovery, that is, looking for ways to make the crisis become a lever to rebuilding the family, constitutes the foundations the Triangular Project is built on. 

The Triangular program is also based on a new perception of the inmates’ families in the rehabilitation process. To explain that, let me give you a short historical survey about the professional perceptions of inmates’ families:

Only little attention has been devoted to the inmates’ families. Only recently researches have referred to them as the “forgotten” or “hidden victims” of crime. This attention to the family marks a major shift from the past inmates’ individual counselling and therapy. Beginning from the superficial need to give financial assistance to inmates’ families and only latter to the fundamental need for therapy. The professional literature used to borrow concepts from other domains to study this issue. Professionals dealt only with the inmates’ children as a secondary problem of: Single-parent families; Inmates’ wives – and their attitude towards their children; Children of female inmates; the situation of family man inmates; and children suffering of behavioural disorders. From all of these issues they had formulated generalisations about the inmates’ children, and had not dealt with them as an independent issue.

The different views can be divided into 2 main perceptions: The intrinsic focus that sees these children as a high-risk group that requires a specific attention. The extrinsic focus that views these children as a population that can enhance the inmate’s rehabilitation.

I propose as conclusion the combined approach: The “Triangular program” developed by the Israeli Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority in 1986. This program is based on the association of these two trends, and rejects a one-sided view. It emphasises the importance of saving the child and preventing him from behavioural digression, and acknowledges the importance of the mother to the child’s development. Therefore the children are tutored by college students, while the mothers participate in support groups, and the fathers in rehabilitation programs in prison. Strengthening the fathers-children and inmates-spouses bond is crucial to the inmate’s return home and successful rehabilitation.

The strengthening of the relationship between the inmate and his family, has been found to be an important factor in the rehabilitation process. (In a research of Dr. Levenstein, 1980). A third of the inmates who return to prison, have pointed out that the reason for their re-incarceration, was their failure to reunite with their close family, that provoked their despair and unwillingness to become rehabilitated.

The inmate is in a trap, that provokes a decline in his social position, and sometimes even in the destruction of his family status. In another research, conducted by the PRA, among inmates before their release from prison, 70 % have expressed their concern as to how their children will accept them. Both researches show the crucial importance of the spouse in the inmate’s rehabilitation.

The “Triangular Program” is a holistic treatment for the prisoner and his family which is set up as follows:

1. The prisoner: undergoes a parenting program (pre and post release);

2. The wife: attends a self-help group; together with her husband-inmate she attends a family counselling;

3. The child: participates in the “Big Brothers” program;

I will present you now the three angles of the Triangular Program separately, starting with the Children:

The Children

As I aforementioned, the child is the “hidden” victim of the father’s sins, and we should therefore ensure that if the father has eaten sour grapes the children’s teeth wont set on edge. The children should not be punished for their father’s sins.

The child loves his father. – How can he not love his way?

The child senses his mother’s weakness. – How can he not take advantage of it?

He feels betrayed and chased by his schoolmates. – How can we expect him not to escape to the streets and crime?

When a parent is incarcerated, the child faces a period of great trauma. He must deal with the embarrassment and stigma of being told his father is a “crook”. There is even more tension in what most likely was a dysfunctional or abusive household to begin with. If the father was the breadwinner, the family may face impoverishment. The mother as a single parent may not have the time or emotional energy to deal adequately with the child’s needs.

As a result, emotions are bottled up, the child’s self-esteem plummets and school attendance and performance may suffer. The child may become withdrawn, depressed, or violent. All too often, he himself may perpetuate a cycle of drug abuse and crime begun by his father.

In 1987, recognising the need to help these children, the PRA began the “Big Brothers” for Prisoners’ Children Program in Jerusalem and Be’er Sheva. At that time, 33 children participated. This year, there are 450 children participating in the project, in cities throughout Israel.

The program consists of University students that are paired up as “Big Brothers” or “Sisters” with a prisoner’s child (between 5 and 14 years old). Together they participate in social activities, have discussions, and form a bond. Approximately once a month, the student accompanies the child to visit his incarcerated parent. In each region a social event takes place in the end of the school year in order to celebrate the end of the program.

Through contact with a “Big Brother” or “Sister”, the child’s self-esteem is gradually returned. He now has a connection with a positive older figure and role model. In the student, he finds an outlet for his emotions, and a sympathetic ear for his problems. He is not alone. The student also bridges the gap between authority figure and friend by fulfilling both roles for the child. Together they engage in interesting activities, which the child would otherwise miss because the parent is busy or not aware of the need and importance of such activities. The visits to prison are made a regular activity. They are now less frightening, and there is often less tension when the student is there.

Early on in the project’s history, it became evident that an unanticipated by-product of the program, was the positive effect, which it was having on the incarcerated parent. The father’s behaviour in prison improved. His self-esteem as a parent was strengthened. He became more involved in the child’s welfare. Moreover, his participation in the project established a connection between him and the PRA, and often led to the prisoner participation in other PRA projects, or remaining in contact with the PRA advisor.

Furthermore, it is interesting to note that the student plays an important role also for the prisoner’s spouse. She is less tense, knowing that a responsible adult is involved in the child’s life. For those parents who are estranged from the incarcerated parent, knowing someone else will accompany the child to the prison, is a relief. In addition, very often the student, with advice from his supervisors, can recommend to the mother various social services’ programs, and other forms of help, of which she may not be aware.

In short, while the student’s function is not to be a social worker, he is in a non-threatening position, and can be a “bridge” or connection between the family and society.

The main difficulty is in ensuring the children’s role after their father’s release from prison. Behavioural problems, nightmares, bed-wetting problems, and apprehension of the dark have been observed among young children. Delinquency and neglect are endangering these children, and especially the acquaintance with the street gangs. Often the children are going through an emotional crisis due to their father’s incarceration. It often expresses through violent behaviour or schooling problems.

The “Big Brothers” program would be incomplete if the mothers did not have their own support program:

The Wives

Most of the mothers are, indeed not criminals, but coming from marginal groups. In many cases, due to family pressures, an immature love or an unplanned pregnancy becomes a marriage.

Apart from the problems the inmates suffer from, during incarceration and after, their wives and children have many difficulties dealing with the new situation, emotionally and concretely. The inmate’s wife is exposed to many pressures during her husband’s incarceration. The creditors are coming to her to collect the debts her husband has left. The lawyers demand their wages. From a personality in the “shade”, she becomes overnight the central pivot of her family. She must be a mother and a father to her children.

Her husband pressures her to keep in contact with him. In this respect, the expression used to describe these women as single-parents is inappropriate, since the inmate tries to continue to rule his family by remote control. And in fact, in every decision she makes her husband participates, either practically or in her thoughts.

As if the situation was not hard enough for her to deal with, she is exposed to the criticism of her own family, that is, her parents, brothers and sisters. They claim that they have warn her from marrying this man. She is also exposed to her husband’s family criticism. They blame her for not taking good care of him, and not preventing him from doing wrong and getting caught. If she belongs to the middle class, she will most probably be rejected also by her own friends.

The financial situation of the family worsens. The family used to live on the fruits of sins and thefts of the husband. The wife did not have a vocation or work habits. From the detention and through the incarceration the inmate’s wife undergoes tremendous changes in her life style. She finds herself in a new and stressful situation:

• She has to take care of the children and the household on her own. Very often her own family and husband’s family are refusing any contact.
• She has to struggle for the family income – in the absence of the main and most often the only wage earner. She has to manage with only one salary or with financial aid from the National Insurance.
• She has to keep in contact with the husband-father and maintain his involvement in the family happenings. She has to function as head of a single-parent family, while the husband or his family’s control over her life is still felt.
• She has to take care of the children and plan the future family life, after her husband is released.
• She has to confront personal pressures and anxieties, and make tremendous efforts not to cut social relationships.
• She has to deal with legal and economic problems.

And as if it was not enough, she often becomes secluded from her own family: parents, brothers and sisters. The society, as well, tends to flee her and her children.

In summary, these women are in dire need of support and help. They need other people with whom to share their anxieties, or to consult with. They often need a vocational training and help in finding a job, since in most cases they have never worked before.

These women are isolated from society and need to acquire tools and skills to be able to deal with their situation.  As a result of their husband’s incarceration they are confronted with a new situation. They find themselves without a support system. The shame and stigma prevent them from turning to professional help. 

The main target is to help these women in coping with their husband’s incarceration crisis and with being an inmate’s wife. The Prisoners’ Wives Program goals are:

1. Treating the prisoners’ contact with their family, and ensuring their successful return home. This is done also by clarifying the roles in the family after the husbands release from prison and return home.
2. Strengthening the women during their husbands’ incarceration, by legitimising emotions that come along with the situation, and by giving them the opportunity to express the feeling they have toward their husband due to their incarceration.
3. Giving the women tools that will help them deal with their children. Especially, in a situation of a single-parent family and stigma.
4. Giving the women tools to deal with social agencies. Improving the mutual relations between the women and the different institutions and organisations.
5. Teaching them how to make positive use of their leisure time.
6. Helping them find a job and receive vocational training when needed.

The 5 first points are dealt with through the prisoners’ wives groups:

In the first stage a guide supervises the support groups, while in the second stage, when a leadership faculty is found among the women, a self-help group is created. The women come to these meetings with their children. While the mothers gather, their children receive other activities, such as games, art workshops, music lessons (according to need and budget possibilities). This is to enable the mothers to attend these meetings without having to find someone to look after their children. At the same time it gives the children the opportunity to enjoy leisure activities their mothers cannot afford: Playing on a computer, having a rich range of games, music lessons, etc.

These meetings deal with:

1. Problems related to raising children.
2. Assertiveness.
3. Law and justice.
4. Violence and family.
5. Women’s rights.

This program puts the woman in the centre, giving her the opportunity to meet with her feelings, wishes and needs and exposes her to different ways of dealing with them.

In the first meetings, suspiciousness and examination of each other and the guide is felt among the women; They still wish to keep the “monstrous” secret. The bond starts around the concrete problems and a very little opening up occurs. The meeting with other women in their situation contributes to the feeling of sharing and common fate. The guides express a lot of pragmatic and emotional support for the participants.

The first meetings allow the women to see the similarities among them, and allow them to overcome the shame. The atmosphere of sharing and their will to support each other allows openness and social supportive relationships. Closer relations start to evolve between some of the women.

After few meetings the supportive atmosphere in the group allows the women to meet with their suppressed and denied feelings, such as: anger, depression, guilt and shame. Expressing these feelings gave them relief and the understanding they could seek help from their equals in the group and from professionals.

Towards the end of the meetings they start to acknowledge their right to an independent existence and as soon they start thinking of their needs and wishes. Then they begin to demand a continuation of the meetings and the creation of a social club where they could help each other.

Usually in the beginning there is a very hesitant and suspicious atmosphere. Many women ask: “what can the group provide me?,” “I have enough problems and no time for non-sense”. But with time the groups’ growing intimacy gives opportunity to express very hard emotions that accompany the situation the women are in. It allows them to expose thus communicate and relax. The issues raised may be connected to marriage, sadness, family, children, or sex. They learn to accept the fact they are inmates’ spouses. The women learn to support each other. As a result the group becomes very united and at the same time each woman progresses individually.

The strengthening of the woman and the increase in her self-awareness are a tool for her rehabilitation and consequently to the rehabilitation of her entire family. A woman who is aware of the difficulties she faces and to her strength, will be able to be a supportive and strengthening factor to her husband.

As a result:

These women understand that they also have needs and desires of their own, their self-esteem improves, and they feel support and encouragement from a public professional organisation. Therefore they feel less lonely. This activity creates a positive power that keeps the family balance.

The innovation we plan to introduce this year in this program is the development of assistance in finding a job and in dealing with employment difficulties, as well as offering vocational training. The temptation not to work is great, since these women receive state financial aid during their husbands’ incarceration. But going out to work and providing for themselves and their children is of crucial importance. It improves their self-esteem, the respect they receive from their children, and allows them to build their lives with their husbands from a stand point that is closer to equality than before by reducing the gaps.

The Inmates

Up to now we have dealt only with the children and mothers-wives. But this program would have disastrous results if it did not take care of the inmates as well. Treating only the child and mother would augment the gap between them and the incarcerated parent to a point where it is too big to bridge. To avoid this danger, the PRA has developed several programs adapted to the different needs and problems of inmates that are family men.

You may ask, why should the inmates wish to participate in these programs? And how can a crisis be transformed into the foundation of a building?

Three facts are important in transforming this crisis into a positive foundation:

I. The incarceration proves to the father-inmate that in fact he is left alone without his “friends” that might help him. His family is the only one that stays loyal to him during his incarceration. As a result, if in the past he used to neglect his family and deal with crime, he starts seeing between the bars the only light that in fact comes from his family, and essentially from his children.

II. It is well known that criminals do not want their children to imitate their ways and to become part of the crime world. Therefore one of the main motivation to change their ways is the need to win their children’s love.

III. The incarceration weakens the feeling of omnipotence the inmates used to have, and teaches them to see their real situation straightforward.

This means we have an opportunity to turn to the inside-family circle. But the problem is that precisely when the will exists, the knowledge and guidance are missing. Therefore the failure increases and along with it the frustration. Therefore this reality is a big challenge for educators and therapists.

The Fathers-Inmates Parenting Group Program, starting during incarceration and continuing after the release from prison, was developed as a bridge over this vulnerable suture. The target population being: inmates, male or female, drug free, who have children under 18, that are or were incarcerated for at least 6 months. The purpose of this program is to teach these inmates theoretically and practically how to behave with their children, how to deal with the problems the separation has created, and how to use the existing community services.

The current view sees parenting as a learnt function and in no way just a biological one. This specific group, being basically problematic, in addition to the troubles created by the fathers’ incarceration, needs a particular approach.

The fathers’ group emphasises the inmate as an integral part of the family, and thus strengthens their sense of belonging. Using the efficient Adlerian theory of “active parenting”, they learn of the ways to become involved in taking decision, of the meeting points between them and their children, of the beneficial aspect of leisure hours, how to become involved with the child’s schooling, etc. Another new aspect of this fathers group program, is the acknowledgement that the wives’ participation from its beginning is of crucial importance.

Each group has 12 weekly meetings of 2 hours each, and is intended for 10-15 participants.

Time and experience have shown us that some inmates do not fit in this kind of program. We therefore developed two additional programs:

The Residential Hostel for Former Prisoners who are Family Men

and The Residential Hostel for Former Prisoners who Were Incarcerated for Violent Behaviour toward Their Families.

Both hostels are intended for inmates that feel they need a transitional stage between prison and the return to their wives and children. Inmates that are former drug addicts often feel it is to much to deal both with their addiction problem along with their return home altogether:

A. The hostel will allow him to come back home progressively, after feeling stronger about his detoxification, entering a routine, and completing the bureaucratic arrangements following his release from prison and return to society – Identity card, debts, legal matters, etc.

B. This delay will allow the whole family to adjust gradually to the fathers return home.

The wives will also encourage their husbands to join the Hostel, especially after recognising that their return straight home will eventually bring an additional failure and reincarceration of their husbands.

The Residential Hostel for Former Prisoners who Were Incarcerated for Violent Behaviour toward Their Families.

Some of these inmates have an additional problem of violence:

Approximately 500 inmates in Israel are incarcerated for violence toward their wives and children. They present approximately 10% of the inmates. They represent a very problematic group. Beside their violence they suffer of drug or alcohol addictions. For them the return home after imprisonment is traumatic. Their wives have learnt to cope on their own and fulfil the functions the inmates had previously performed as fathers and husbands.

The difficulties are more complex when violence problems are involved. The wives do not feel the urge to co-operate with their husbands’ therapy, since the physical threat is removed by their incarceration.

We also learnt that those that did not go back to their wives, and that did not receive proper treatment, continue to be violent with their new female companions. Nevertheless, we must assume that most of the violent inmates will eventually go back to their families. And they go back even more furious – as they were sent to jail because of their wives. Consequently, in most cases, if nothing is done, the violence will increase. Therefore there is a dire need for a transitional place, that will allow observing this inmate before he returns home, without endangering his wife and children, while preparing him for a successful return to his family.

To solve this problem of violence and traumatic transition, the PRA has developed a new program: The Residential Hostel for released inmates, incarcerated for violent behaviour toward their families. The Hostel represents a transition place, where the released inmate starts dealing with his gradual return to his family and with an intensive professional supervision.

12 released inmates will stay in the Hostel for a period of 6 months, during which they will participate, in an intensive therapy emphasising on the ways to overcome the violence problem and deal with the co-dependency with their wives. They will learn to improve their communication with their wives and children, and acquire the skill to function as fathers and husbands, including the responsibility to take care of the children and run the household.

The wives will take part in the therapy. Their participation will increase gradually as their husbands’ therapy progresses. The husband visitations at home will increase gradually.

As in all PRA rehabilitation programs, and particularly in the different residential hostels for released inmates, the residents must work or attend vocational training as a condition for their participation in the program. Work being a part of the normative life style they must learn.

The Residential Hostel for Former Female Inmates With Their Children.

The above hostels are intended for former male inmates. The last program I will present is intended for former female inmates who present a special and crucial problem – the female inmates with children.

At any given time, in Israel, there are approximately 180 female inmates, as opposed to the 5,515 male inmates (in 1997). Despite their small numbers, the female inmates are an extremely difficult population to work with. Most have histories of severe sexual and/or physical abuse from early childhood. Because of this, their psychological profiles often include various emotional disturbances, low self-image and self-esteem, suicide attempts and other self-destructive behaviours. In addition, this population is characterised by difficulties in establishing ties with caregivers and treatment professionals. Because of these problems, for many years, female inmates were considered hopeless cases in terms of treatment and rehabilitation.

Most of these women (approximately 70%) are mothers. Most are single parents. Motherhood, in many different ways, complicates their situation, and lessens their chance for being successfully rehabilitated. Most (approximately 80%) are drug addicts, and are in dire need of a closed, strict framework which will remove them from the community.

For these women we founded, The Residential Hostel for Former Female Inmates With Their Children. Until the creation of this Hostel, there were no residential rehabilitation facilities that could accommodate children. The need to be separated from their children for a long period of time, in addition to the long, stressful separation during incarceration, made many women reluctant to join a rehabilitation program. But without a structured and supervised program, these women had little chance of being successfully rehabilitated.

After 7 years of running a Hostel for Former Female Prisoners (which cannot accommodate children), the PRA recognised that a Hostel where children can live with the mothers, is crucial to reach the large majority of women who will not otherwise participate in any rehabilitation program. In May 1996 the Residential Hostel for Former Female Prisoners – With Their Children, was founded.

As with the other PRA Hostels, the hostel is small, housing up to 5 women and 5 children at a time. This is intentional, so that the house feels like a home, not another institution. This is crucial, for both the women and the children. It is run on the basis of a family – with residents participating in household duties and chores.

Accepted candidates spend 3 months without their children in the existing Hostel for Women. (The length of this initiation period is subject to changes in accordance with decisions made by a professional committee for child welfare.) Having completed this phase, the women move into the Hostel – with their children.

The women must find jobs, with the help and guidance of the PRA Employment Co-ordinator for women. The children, depending on their ages, are placed in day-care, or attend school during the day.

In the evenings, along with preparing and eating supper, participating in household chores, and spending time in productive interaction with the children, there are individual and group therapies. As well, there will be enrichment activities – outings, field trips, cultural events, etc. These are not just entertainment activities – they are a crucial aspect of therapy. They improve self-esteem, allow the women to interact with each other and their children, as well as the staff, in a relaxed setting, and teach proper, productive use of leisure time. As well, many of the activities are in and of themselves educational.

The importance of the program for the MOTHERS:

For these women, many of whom grew up in abusive or dysfunctional homes, or in institutions, having a child taken away from them, is a staggering blow. Having a child, being a mother, unleashes many strong emotions. The separation during the period of incarceration is very traumatic for them. For many, what keeps them going in prison, is the hope that upon release, they will again be able to see their children. This residential facility which accommodates mothers and their children together provides a solution to this problem.

While there are those who question the benefit to the women of having their children with them during the rehabilitation period, it is clear to those who work in the field that this is perhaps the most beneficial aspect of a rehabilitation process. The chance to give and receive love, to have something to look forward to, to be responsible for someone else – these are all the essential aspects of rebuilding self-esteem, and learning to conduct healthy relationships.

And the importance of the program for the CHILDREN:

For a child, especially from a female-led single-parent family, the effects of the mother’s incarceration can be devastating. In addition to the stigma of having a convict for a parent, whatever little stability there was in the home, is shattered. During the mother’s imprisonment, the child is often shuffled between institutions. With luck, a relative becomes the primary caregiver, but this is not always the case, and while a relative such as a grandparent is likely to provide a family environment, the tension surrounding the mother’s imprisonment will run high within the family, causing further stress on the child.

If upon the mother’s release, the child cannot only be reunited with the mother, but can live with her in a supervised, therapeutic setting, there is no question that the child will benefit from such a program.

While the expected stay in the men’s hostel is of one year, for the women, this period must be more flexible. Considering the tremendous effort involved (on the part of PRA Hostel staff, social workers, community and child welfare professionals, and on the part of the women and children themselves), in their actually getting to the point of becoming residents, it would be detrimental to impose time limits on the rehabilitation process. Moreover, before they can leave, everyone involved must feel confident that mother and child have found a housing arrangement that is appropriate for all their needs (i.e. not with an abusive former boyfriend, not in a criminogenic neighbourhood, not with known drug users, etc.). The search for suitable accommodation may take some time, and until it is found, the women are allowed (in fact, encouraged) to remain at the Hostel.

To date, in Israel, this is the only existing program and residential facility to treat released female prisoners with their children. Based on many years of experience of working with both female inmates and inmate’s children, it has become evident that such a facility is absolutely crucial, for both the mothers and the children.

The social workers face an inherent contradiction, when they try to treat and support children in institutions separated from their mothers. It became clear that when a child is going back to his mother whose condition has not improved, the meeting is often unsuccessful, because to a certain degree the child becomes estranged to his mother.

This program enables the mother and child to develop together. Therefore this program is good news in the domain of therapy for mothers from poor socio-economical classes. The Social Services will have to develop programs that allow a systematic assistance and accompaniment for these mothers and children, with no separation. The condition being of course, the mothers are not using drugs nor committing any crimes.

Conclusions

The programs I have presented to you are a successful tentative done in the State of Israel in dealing with the inmate’s family as a whole. The ideological basis to our activities with delinquents is to be found in the words of a wise woman in the history of the people of Israel. Bruria taught social work more than 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem, and said: “May the sins disappear from the face of the earth – and not the sinners” (Psalms). Therefore we shall give any human being a chance to start his life all over again.

The second principle is that a partial activity with one part of the family, being blessed in itself, but without the overall perception the investment’s real value is only partial. When we speak of a holistic program, every cent invested has a 100% success. Therefore from the economical and essential aspects of the problem, as well as the chances of the inmate’s family to a successful rehabilitation, we must develop holistic programs, whose results are far better and promising higher chances of success.

I know that some people are reluctant of this program for executive or professional reasons. The good results this combination shows prove the efforts are worthwhile. One of Israel’s wise men said: The whole world is a narrow bridge and it is essential not to be afraid to ascend this bridge. Both the practitioners and their patients are afraid to ascend this narrow bridge, since courage is needed for rehabilitation. Those who know how to walk on this narrow bridge without getting dizzy and without losing hope are the ones who help the inmates reach the other side. They will become the bridge between the world of crime and the general society.

My hope is that we all will have this courage, and that we will together build a bridge of hope.