“Straight away I was aware that I was Black”: Conceptualising the racialised pains of maternal imprisonment in England

Thomas, Monica and Stevens, Alisa ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5422-7065 2026. “Straight away I was aware that I was Black”: Conceptualising the racialised pains of maternal imprisonment in England. Incarceration 7 , 26326663261456388. 10.1177/26326663261456388

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Abstract

The gendered pains of imprisonment, and particularly the partial or complete deprivation of mothering, have been increasingly recognised in prisons scholarship. Yet, given the ‘colour-blind’ representation of maternal imprisonment in much of the British literature, the distinctive experiences of Black mothers have received little attention. This article begins to address this problematic oversight by drawing upon narrative interviews with nine Black mothers who have lived experience of imprisonment in England. From the standpoint of Black Feminist Thought, our analysis identities three intersecting pains of Black maternal imprisonment: Marginalised mothering, subtle discrimination, and self-censorship and appeasement. We argue processes of racialised and gendered oppression combine to shape Black mothers’ experiences within and through the prison walls and thus explicate the ways in which the prison perpetuates the systematic repression and regulation of Black motherhood.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/, Start Date: 2026-06-01
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
ISSN:	2632-6663
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	17 June 2026
Last Modified:	17 Jun 2026 09:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/187593

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