NCJ Number
77078
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 24 Issue: 3 Dated: (1980) Pages: 249-259
Date Published
1980
Length
11 pages
Annotation
A group of 327 Polish women inmates were surveyed to determine the impact of imprisonment on their family lives.
Abstract
The women were 50 years old or younger and had received sentences of 2 years or longer. Of the group, 56 percent were married, 36.4 percent were unmarried, 6.4 percent were divorced, and 1.2 percent were widowed. When asked how imprisonment influences marriages, 80 percent of the 233 who responded said that prison ruins the marriage. Of the 183 married women, 164 gave information on their conjugal life before imprisonment. Of these, 74.1 percent rated their marriages as good and very good, while only 13.6 percent considered their marriages bad or breaking up. Answers to a question regarding family ties during incarceration revealed that the type of bond between a couple during imprisonment depended greatly on the quality of the married life before imprisonment. Some bond existed in 51.9 percent of the cases during imprisonment, and in 27.2 percent a strong bond was noted. Of the 169 inmates who replied to a question regarding the resumption of married life after release, 62.4 percent returned to their husbands. The return to married life also depended largely on the type of married life in the period before. After release, the number of marriages described as very good dropped from 46.3 to 26.6 percent, while the percentage of good marriages dropped from 27.8 to 14.8. According to 32.5 percent, prison had caused the breakup of their marriages, while 4.5 percent said it had strengthened their marriages. Of the unmarried women, 82.4 percent married after release; of the 58 women whose marriages had broken up, 34.5 percent remarried. Data tables and a five-item reference list are included.