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Incarceration does not simply affect the one who is imprisoned; rather, the impact

of incarceration extends beyond the individual and includes the family system. Des-

pite the large number of families affected in a deleterious manner by incarceration,

the resources available to the nonoffending loved ones are extremely sparse. Thus,

the psychological well-being of over 1 million children is severely compromised.

(Hostetter & Jinnah, 1993). Similarly, thousands of spouses do not receive the finan-

cial or emotional support needed to sustain them through the time during which

their partners are incarcerated. Without services available to families, it is likely

that children will continue to be removed from their homes and placed in foster

care, spouses and children will continue to suffer the psychological repercussions

resulting from the physical and emotional loss of a loved one, and communities

in general will continue to see an increasingly larger percentage of the population

experiencing behavioral, financial, and emotional difficulties.

Suggestions for Future Research

A dearth of scholarship exists which addresses families of inmates. Current research

follows public policy trends and focuses on offenders, both individually and col-

lectively. There is a dire need for future research to address the needs of family

members of incarcerated individuals. Perhaps the lack of literature in this area re-

flects the limited amount of available resources for families of prisoners on which

to base such studies. Initially, future research would do well to identify the reasons

for the paucity of services available to families. Such inquiries would entail investi-

gating the legislative, mental health, and criminal justice system factors, preventing

the availability of such services. Additionally, program evaluations need to be con-

ducted on those programs which currently exist in order to identify their strengths

and weaknesses. Future research would do well to conduct both qualitative and

quantitative studies to determine the differences in overall functioning between

those families of inmates who do receive services and those who do not.

Female Inmates: Mothers in Prison

Introduction

While it has been widely recognized that the United States has the highest incarcer-
ation rate in the world, women prisoners have not received as much attention from
the media, the legislature, and the fields of psychology and criminology as have
their male counterparts. Yet the recent trend toward retributive justice dramatically
effects the incarceration rates of women. This is primarily because most women
in prison are incarcerated as a result of nonviolent offenses (Watterson, 1996). The
vast majority of female offenders commit drug-related crimes. While the increase