The research was conducted in 1987 while the author was teaching a college course on the American judicial process at DCC. Information was obtained from term papers written on the hardships of imprisonment, conversations with inmates, and a questionnaire survey of 49 inmates. Findings demonstrated the apparent preoccupation of many female inmates with family relationships and their tendency to see children as victims of their crimes. Findings also revealed the joys and sorrows of family visits at the penitentiary, the importance of receiving material assistance from home, and inmate regrets over being away from home during important family events. Inmates emphasized that the worst aspect of doing time was family separation and the realization that they had brought undeserved hardships to their families. Several expressed a desire to prove to their families that they could stay out of trouble in the future, and some talked about their eagerness to reclaim and raise their children. It is suggested that female prisons should encourage inmate maintenance of family relationships in some cases. 24 references