PRISON NURSERY RESEARCH
Dr. Mary Byrne's Prison Nursery Research
Program has been funded in part by the New York State Department of
Health Commissioner's Priority Award and the Columbia University
Institute for Family and Child Policy and is currently funded by
"Maternal and Child Outcomes of a Prison Nursery Program," a grant
awarded by the National Institute of Nursing Research of the National
Institutes of Health from 9/1/03 - 5/31/07.
The broad objectives of this project are to identify and explore the changes in maternal-infant attachment and infant/toddler development as they occur during incarceration on a prison nursery and during the year following release of the infant with and without the mother. The overall goal is to enrich the knowledge base from which prison and community based parenting programs can be developed and tested and to improve the lives of incarcerated women and their children during co-detention and following release. The specific aims are: (1) to compare the impact of an intervention designed to enhance mother-infant synchrony versus a basic child care intervention on: parent-child interaction, parenting competency, and child development; (2) To measure type of attachment achieved by infants in the prison nursery and maintained during the transition to the community in relation to: the inmate mother's own attachment and to participation in either intervention; and (3) To identify the impact of raising an infant on the prison nursery on subsequent short-term criminal recidivism of the mother. Inmate participants and their infants are randomly assigned to one of the two interventions. Implementation of each consists of two concurrent strategies: videotaping of mother and baby followed by discussion with a nurse specialist every 3 months and weekly guided use of "Myself and My Baby", a workbook of mother and baby activities. The content of the post-videotape discussion and the workbook activities differ based on a priori protocols, with the synchrony intervention focused on maternal sensitive response and infant cues, and the child care intervention focused on health. Outcome variables measured include: bi-directional maternal and infant attachment, parent-child interaction, parenting competency, and child development.
Research Team for "Maternal and Child
Outcomes of a Prison Nursery Program"
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Mary Byrne, Ph.D., MPH, FAAN Principal Investigator, "Maternal and Child Outcomes of a Prison Nursery Program" Dr. Byrne has several years of experience as Principal Investigator in NIH-funded studies focusing on assessment and early intervention for infants, toddlers and children and their caregivers at risk for sub-optimum development and inadequate parenting. She is a Professor at Columbia University School of Nursing and a Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. |
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Juliette Clark |
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Carolynn Bitzer MSN, CS, FNP Ms. Bitzer is a doctoral student at Columbia University School of Nursing and a Graduate Research Assistant for this study. She is a Family Nurse Practitioner with several years caring for undeserved populations, both nationally and internationally. |
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Keosha Bond, MPH Keosha Bond is the Health Educator for the prison nursery study. Ms. Bond has several years of experience working with community health projects that focused on improving maternal and birth outcomes of underserved populations in New York City. She has also worked closely with health care providers to improve perinatal services in the region. |
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David Crandall, Ph.D. Dr. Crandall is the study’s data manager and statistical consultant. Dr. Crandall is a clinical psychologist with over 15 years of experience in mental health research and behavioral health care performing research studies and data analyses. |
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Joann Galley, Psy.D., J.D. Dr. Galley is the study’s Child Development Specialist. She provides training, supervision, and interpretation of the developmental assessments. Dr. Galley has over 10 years of experience as a Neuropsychologist specializing in early intervention evaluations, treatment plans and rehabilitation. She is currently Director of School Psychology Services at a private school for severely disabled children, as well as an adjunct professor at Fordham and Pace University. |
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Sarah Joestl, MPH, DrPH Student Ms. Joestl is the current Project Director for the prison nursery study. As such, she is responsible for assisting Dr. Byrne in all managerial aspects of the study. Ms. Joestl received her MPH from Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health, where she is currently pursuing her DrPH in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences. Her focus is on the link between structural inequality and psychosocial processes as causes of racial disparities in health, particularly in the urban setting. Ms. Joestl has five years of progressive experience working both in the university setting and in the nonprofit sector. |
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Denise Pollard, MS, MPH, CPNP,
DNSc Ms. Pollard has been a doctoral student at Columbia University School of Nursing (graduated May 2006) and the Graduate Research Assistant for this study. She continues to be responsible for recruiting participants and implementing the study intervention. Ms. Pollard is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner with 3 years of experience in primary care for adolescents and several years’ prior experience in early intervention and pediatric nursing. |
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Lorie Smith, RN, MSN Ms. Smith is the community coordinator for this study. She is also a doctoral student at Columbia University School of Nursing. Ms. Smith has ten years of experience working with underserved populations, including the incarcerated. |
Byrne, M. (2005) Conducting research as a visiting scientist in a women’s prison. Journal of Professional Nursing 21(4), 223-230.
Byrne, M. Pollard, D. “Evidence from a Prison Nursery Study to Support Parenting and Child Development.” Plenary session. Child Welfare League of America national conference, Washington D.C., March 8, 2005.
Byrne, M. "Conducting Research as a Visiting Scientist in a Women’s Prison." American Academy of Nursing Annual meeting, Washington, D.C., November 11-13, 2004.
Click to download Adobe .pdf file of poster
Byrne, M. “Creating a Viable Program of Research to Foster Parenting, Attachment, and Child Development in a Prison Nursery”. Symposium, 2004 National State of the Science Congress in Nursing Research, Washington, D.C., October 6-9, 2004
Byrne, M. "Ethnographic, Self-Report Questionnaire, and Developmental Screening Data to Profile Maternal and Child Health Needs in a Prison Nursery." 2004 National State of the Science Conference, Washington, D.C., October 6-9, 2004.
Click to download Adobe .pdf file of poster
Byrne, M. (2002) Post September 11 reflections from a prison nursery. Zero to Three 22(1), 47-48.