This report, based primarily on the 1986 Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities, describes characteristics as a group, criminal histories, and past drug use of women in State prisons. Specific findings include the following: (1) The rate of growth for female inmates exceeded that for males in each year since 1981; (2) An estimated 41 percent of the female inmates in 1986 were in prison for a violent offense, compared to 49 percent in 1979; nearly half of the women in prison for a violent crime in 1986 were serving time for a homicide; (3) More than two-thirds of the women in prison were recidivists; (4) Women released from State prison in 1986 had served an average of 16 months; (5) More than a third of the women serving time for a violent crime had victimized a relative or intimate; (6) A third of all female inmates reported they were under the influence of a drug at the time of their offense; (7) An estimated 41 percent of the women in prison reported they had been sexually or physically abused; and (8) More than three-fourths of the women in prison were mothers. Tables, notes