While their husbands are in jail, the wives of prisoners suffer from psychological pressure leading to depression, loneliness and a feeling of shame. These negative feelings increase if the crimes their husbands have committed are related to honor or morals. The women feel that they are also blamed by their families, relatives and friends and by society. Prisoners' wives also lose their source of income, particularly if their husbands were the sole breadwinners of the family. The resulting financial difficulties along with the social and psychological problems, make life unbearable for women whose husbands are in prison. Wives of prison inmates may also find themselves overburdened with responsibilities. Important questions arise: Who will take the children to school? Who will provide for the needs of the family? Who will be in the home to protect it? As the problems mount up, many of these questions remained unanswered. Even if the wife adapts herself to her new situation, she finds obstacles at every turn in her life and that of her children. For example, when she needs her children's birth certificates or any other documents related to them, or if she wants to enroll her children in school, or open a bank account, she faces difficulties because completing the procedures for these matters requires the presence of her husband, who is behind bars serving his prison term. This suffering of a prisoner's wife and her children should not occur; they should not be blamed for the crime the prisoner has committed and they should not be punished because he has been sent to jail. Prevailing culture Dr. Midhwah Bin Muhammad Aal Midhwah, Director of Reform and Rehabilitation in Asir Prisons and a researcher in criminology, said that society's negative view of a prisoner, his wife and family is affected by prevailing cultural values and traditions. This does not mean, he added, that all members of society have the same negative attitudes. There are some with a more positive outlook; however, regrettably they are the minority, as the majority of society makes stereotyped judgments without thinking logically or scientifically, he explained. Dr. Aal Midhwah said: “Unfortunately, I have found that some values and traditions seem to affect the thinking and actions of some members of society more than the effects of religious teachings.” He added that the way that society views a prisoner and his family can be extremely negative. Hence, a prisoner is branded as a deviant person throughout his life even if he has sincerely repented. This attitude extends to his wife and children who then also become victims and are stigmatized by society. Indeed the prisoner's wife and children may suffer at the hands of society more than the prisoner himself does in prison. Alternatives to jail Dr. Aal Midhwah said the best way to tackle this problem is to protect the prisoner's wife and children from the psychological, social and financial problems resulting from the prison penalty. This can be done if the judiciary reconsider their focus on punishment for a crime necessitating imprisonment and the lashing of the whip. He stressed that the authorities should attempt to replace these traditional penalties with scientific alternatives whenever possible.
