Abstract

It is estimated that in Croatia around 12 000 children have one or both parents in prison, while the number of children of ex-prisoners is even higher. Children of prisoners are stigmatized on daily basis, due to parental incarceration. Regarding the fact that educational institutions can be a safe-places with strong protective role, the survey among pedagogical professionals towards children of prisoners was conducted. Results showed that pedagogical professionals nurture biological determinism, with inconsistency in structural aspects of affects, behavior, and cognition. The structure of the attitudes is not connected with professionals’ working experience, and their formal level of education. However, in the cognition subscale, more positive attitudes have pedagogical professionals with previous experiences with children of prisoners. Obtained results reveal the need for further education about children of prisoners, as well as the need for strengthening the social support for children and families, including peer support, advocacy aimed at broader society, intersectoral cooperation, and participative research engaging the children, families and prisoners.