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Mothers who served a prison sentence can help prevent their children from becoming delinquents by taking part in . This parent intervention aims to prevent that children of these mothers go on to exhibit antisocial behaviour, such as committing offences. Ankie Menting, developmental psychologist at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��, and Bram Orobio de Castro, Professor of Child and Youth Care Sciences at the ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� of Amsterdam, have researched the long-term effects of the intervention. Menting: “The effects on delinquency we observed in both children and mothers show that the Better Start does indeed contribute to breaking the vicious cycle of intergenerational delinquency.”

It has long been known that children of a parent who served a prison sentence have an increased risk of developing antisocial behavioural problems. To break this intergenerational cycle, mothers take part in the Better Start intervention around the end of their prison sentence. Previous research found evidence for the effectiveness of this intervention, which is offered by the Ministry of Justice and Security to help families in this difficult period. But now it has also been established for the first time that the intervention has beneficial effects in the long term. The researchers recently published their findings in the report ‘Better Start: Long-Term Follow-Up of Parenting Support for Mothers Who Were Imprisoned (Lange termijn follow-up van opvoedondersteuning voor (ex-)gedetineerde moeders). The House of Representatives was on Friday, 13 October.

Minors whose mother participated in Better Start exhibited less delinquent behaviour.

Less delinquent behaviour and less recidivism

With their research, Menting and Orobio de Castro have established the effects of Better Start for a period of up to ten years after the intervention. They found that the intervention has a beneficial effect on delinquent behaviour in both the children and the participating mothers. Menting: “Reports on mothers who were imprisoned show that minors whose mother participated in Better Start exhibited less delinquent behaviour those whose mother did not take part in the intervention.” The researchers also found that Better Start has a long-term effect on the number of instances of problematic behaviour among the children, as reported by their mother. Better Start also reduces the delinquency rate among the mothers. “Having monitored participants for an average of 9.17 years after the intervention, we found that mothers who participated in the intervention had a lower reoffending rate than mothers who did not participate in the intervention.” In the sample as a whole, the number of offences committed by the intervention group was almost 50% lower than the number committed by the control group.

The positive findings of this research have prompted a study into whether it would be feasible and effective to also deploy this intervention among imprisoned fathers.

Start for all mothers due to be released from prison

The researchers’ report shows that mothers are able to work towards a better future for their family. Accordingly, the Custodial Institutions Agency, (Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen, DJI) responsible for the day-to-day care for adults and minors in custodial institutions, offers the Better Start intervention to all mothers near the end of their prison sentence. The positive findings of this research have prompted a study into whether it would be feasible and effective to also deploy this intervention among imprisoned fathers, as appropriate to the institution’s security level and the applicable incarceration and rehabilitation framework.