Doing Our Time on the Outside:
Families of the Incarcerated

Abandonment. Anger. Ambivalence. Sorrow. Confusion.

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These are just some of the emotions that spring from the pages written by children of incarcerated mothers and fathers in Herstory’s workshops for family members of people in jail and prison. Borrowing the title of Barbara Allan’s book, Doing Our Time on the Outside: One Prison Family of 2.5 Million, which was written in a series of Herstory workshops, Herstory’s Doing Our Time on the Outside program provides memoir writing workshops for family members of all ages of incarcerated people. 

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Children may have an especially hard time grappling with the glaring absence of one or both parents, an absence often shrouded in mystery for those who do not know where their parents are or understand why they leave and never return home. Herstory’s All I Ever Wanted . . .: Stories of Children of the Incarcerated  brings to the surface the depth of emotions that children whose parents are incarcerated feel and do not have an outlet for expressing. By providing high school and college students with writing as a way to explore their experience of living with one or more incarcerated family members, Herstory encourages self-reflection, understanding, growth, and healing, clearing a path for these young people to feel strong and resilient in the face of stigmatization, marginalization, and childhood adversity.  

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Since Herstory’s longstanding relationship with Prison Families Anonymous (now Prison Families Alliance) began in the early 2000s, we have partnered to create workshops bringing together siblings, children, and parents of the incarcerated, creating classroom and community speaking opportunities, including participation in national and international conferences and forums geared to specific policy change.