Practice and Policy lecture examines unanticipated effects of high female incarceration rate

Mothers in prison in Oklahoma are the topic of the May Practice and Policy Lecture series presented by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS). "Oklahoma's Children of Prisoner Mothers" will be held Wednesday, May 17, 2017 from noon to 1 p.m. at the Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, Oklahoma City. The lecture is free and open to the public.

When a parent goes to prison, other people are affected – particularly the children of incarcerated mothers. Drawing on nearly two decades of research on Oklahoma women prisoners and their children, the presentation examines some of the unanticipated effects of the state's high female incarceration rate.

Susan F. Sharp, Ph.D. is the David Ross Boyd Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma. Her areas of research encompass gender and the criminal justice system and the effects of criminal justice policies on families. Her recent research includes Mean Lives, Mean Laws: Oklahoma's Women Prisoners (Rutgers University Press, 2014), Hidden Victims (Rutgers University Press 2005),her edited books, The Incarcerated Woman (Prentice-Hall, 2002) and Across the Spectrum of Women and Crime (Carolina Academic Press, 2016) as well as work published in a variety of journals and reports. 

The Practice and Policy Lecture Series has been developed to provide thought-provoking presentations on Oklahoma's emerging policy issues, trends and best practices. The series is sponsored by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services Office of Planning, Research and Statistics and the University of Oklahoma Center for Public Management with the goal of providing the best educational opportunities available in a forum that offers participants an opportunity to question, share and learn from each other. 

To register for the lecture, call (405) 521-3552 or email  DHS.LectureSeries@okdhs.org. 

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