Summary:
Naina MishraTribune News ServiceChandigarh, October 19The State Legal Service Authority (SLSA), Chandigarh, has advocated for considering children of prisoners as ‘children in need of care and protection’ under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, in a report titled ‘Clipped Wings - Impact of Incarceration on Family Members of Prisoners’. A recent study by the SLSA highlighted that 25 per cent of children of convicts experienced peer ridicule and 40 per cent feared family reputation. According to the study, 11 per cent of children and 25 per cent spouses reported having to experienced suicidal thoughts. Thus, the SLSA suggested special counselling services for them. A way forwardThe SLSA will also deliberate on mental health services for families of prisoners, coping mechanisms adopted by spouses of convicted prisoners, children of convicted prisoners, interdisciplinary approach for rehabilitation of children of incarcerated prisoners, role of grandparents as kinship carers for children, lives of young children living with mothers in jails, foster care as an alternative for children of convicted prisoners and behaviour pattern among adolescent children of convicted prisoners..