The women had common-law or marital relations with the male inmates for at least 6 months prior to their arrests, and the men had served at least 6 months in prison at the time of the interview for this study. The self-reported experiences of the women indicate that each stage in criminal justice processing is crisis-provoking for inmates' families. Wives often undergo identity crises. Although events such as arrest, conviction, imprisonment, and parole are crisis events in themselves, the wives report that the enforced separation from their husbands involves the greatest adjustment. Their coping problems thus parallel those of other families experiencing separation from a family member. To the extent that inmates' wives are emotionally and materially dependent on their husbands, the wives' emotional and financial states are directly related to what happens to their husbands in criminal justice processing. Stigmatization is a particular problem for inmates' families, as they must cope with community attitudes toward criminals and their families. Wives must assess and reassess their husbands' criminal behaviors and use accommodative techniques to preserve their marriages and make their lives bearable. Some of these techniques of accommodation are examined in this book. Chapter notes, a 160-item bibliography, and a subject index