Attitudes of preschool teachers, primary school teachers,secondary school teachers, and associates towards children of (ex) prisoners and their needs

Abstract

It is estimated that in Croatia 12 000 - 15 000 children aged 0 to 18 have one or both parents in prison. When taking ex-prisoners into account, that number is even higher. While the prison system, in cooperation with NGOs, has made big steps towards supporting family ties through children friendly visiting areas, adjusted protocols of child's entrance in the prison, and programs for strengthening parental competencies of prisoners, the education system has not made significant steps in recognizing the needs of children of (ex) prisoners. The results of this research showed that educational professionals assess peer support as a major need of children of (ex) prisoners, alongside successful school graduation. Structurally, the attitudes of educational professionals are characterized with disparity and confusion. Educational professionals emphasize a child's close monitoring and observation for timely recognition of misconduct. Close monitoring, the expectation of misconduct, and high demands regarding a child's academic achievement are congruent with the biological determinism paradigm. The obtained results can be used for further research on this issue, and for designing lifelong learning programs for educational professionals about adequate strategies for supporting children of (ex) prisoners, and for (ex) prisoners, as parents.