I denna studie undersöker vi hur personalen på en anstalt i Sverige bemöter barn som besöker ett fängelse. Mötet kan på många sätt vara känsligt och barn med frihetsberövade föräldrar behöver tas emot av personal som förstår dess livssituation. Genom kvalitativa intervjuer vill vi förstå hur barnperspektivet på anstalten yttrar sig, vilken kompetens som finns hos personalen samt om det finns något samarbete mellan olika myndigheter för att stödja barnet.  I resultatdelen framförs och diskuteras nio intervjuades åsikter i förhållande till tidigare begrepp och forskning. Sammanfattningsvis menar vi att alla intervjuade har ett barnperspektiv men att lagar och föreskrifter ibland hindrar personalen att möta barnet ur barnets perspektiv. De anställda på anstalten ska jobba för att den intagne inte ska återfalla i brott samt att upprätthålla säkerhet. Att vara barn till någon som sitter i fängelse är speciellt. När barnet kommer till anstalten måste höga säkerhetskrav balanseras med vad barnet uttrycker och behöver. Vidare ser vi att ett större samarbete mellan socialtjänsten, kriminalvården och andra myndigheter skulle kunna stödja barnet och hans/hennes familj under förälderns fängelsevistelse. / The aim of this essay is to study how the staff at a Swedish prison approaches children that visit the prison. The meeting can in many ways be sensitive and children with imprisoned parents need to be welcomed by employees that have an understanding of their situation. The method used is qualitative interviews. Through these interviews we explore the child perspective at the prison, the employee’s competence and if there is any cooperation between different authorities to support the child.  In total we have interviewed nine persons and their views and reflections are compared with established research. We conclude that all the interviewees apply a child perspective in their work. However sometimes laws and regulations in effect hamper the staff’s ability to meet the child from the child’s perspective. The prime objectives for the employees at a prison are to maintain security and to help the inmates towards a life outside the criminal sphere. To be a child and have a parent in prison is difficult. When the child visits the prison his/her needs and feelings has to be balanced with the security demands at the prison. We also argue that it would be helpful for the support of the child and his/her family if social services, The Prison and Probation Service and other authorities would have a closer cooperation.

The thesis focuses on problems of children with imprisoned parents in the Czech Republic to which our society pays only a low attention. The study points to specific problems which children have to deal with, to a children's unhealthy psychosocial development influated by a longtime separation from their parent and to an unsufficient observance of childern's rights, especially the regular contact with a parent. This work presents posibilites how children can stay in touch with a busted parent and describes supporting activites of Czech Helsinki Comitee. The empirical part of the thesis tries to clarify the influence of a parent's imprisonment on a quality of a relationship between parents and children and define main fields where changes would be needed. KEY WORDS Imprisonment, parenthood, child, children, family, parent, sentenced, contact, relationship, rights, prison, psychosocial development, Czech Helsinki Comitee, EUROCHIPS