Mothering from the Inside: Parenting in a Women's Prison

Explores how women in prison manage to mother their children from behind bars.

The majority of female inmates are also mothers of children under the age of eighteen. These women don’t stop being mothers when they receive a prison sentence, but in fact try a variety of means to maintain motherhood and mothering while away from their children. Based on research conducted in a women’s prison, Mothering from the Inside reveals how inmate mothers find places for their children to live, manage relationships with caregivers, demonstrate their fitness as mothers, and negotiate rights to their children under challenging circumstances. The impact of race, ethnicity, and marginality on women in prison is traced through the development of the women’s motherhood careers.