Effects of female imprisonment on family dynamics

Abstract

This article analyzes the effects of female incarceration on family dynamics from the perspective of women deprived of liberty. The data from the survey carried out between December 2017 and March 2018 with 170 inmates at the Estêvão Pinto Penitentiary Complex (Belo Horizonte/Minas Gerais/Brazil) were scrutinized. Using the responses given by the detainees, we present the positions they occupied in their families of origin and the changes that occurred in their homes, as well as in their affective and marital relationships, as a result of their detention. This research indicates that female incarceration affects not only the detainee but also those with whom they lived before going to prison.