FROM 1972 TO 1977 THE AVERAGE AGE OF FEMALE PRISONERS DROPPED FROM BETWEEN 40 AND 50 YEARS OF AGE TO BETWEEN 30 AND 40; IN 1977, 42 PERCENT WERE UNDER 25 YEARS OF AGE. MOST HAVE COMPLETED PRIMARY SCHOOL ONLY; AN INCREASINGLY LARGE NUMBER ARE NATIONALS OF OTHER COUNTRIES. SEVERAL SERVICES ARE PROVIDED TO INMATES. AT FLEURY-MEROGIS PRISON THESE INCLUDE PRENATAL SERVICES, ABORTIONS, FAMILY PLANNING AND INFORMATION PROGRAMS, AND BIRTH CONTROL. WHILE DRUG ABUSERS HAVE REQUESTED PSYCHOTHERAPY, SUCH SERVICE HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN PROVIDED. IT IS ASSERTED THAT MOST FEMALE PRISONERS REJECT TRADITIONAL VALUES REGARDING WORK AND FAMILY. WOMEN HAVE BECOME MORE INDEPENDENT, AND AT THE SAME TIME THE SERIOUSNESS OF THEIR CRIMES HAS INCREASED. THEFTS, HOMICIDE, FRAUD, AND DRUG ABUSE BY WOMEN ARE ON THE RISE. IN CONTRAST, THE INCIDENCE OF INFANTICIDE, CHILD ABUSE, AND CORRUPTION OF MINORS IS DECREASING. ALTHOUGH FEMALES COMMIT FEWER CRIMES THAN MEN, THE SERIOUSNESS OF THEIR CRIMES RIVALS THAT OF CRIMES COMMITTED BY MEN. WOMEN ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE DETAINED, ARE RELEASED MORE RAPIDLY, AND SEEM TO AVOID IMPRISONMENT MORE EASILY THAN MEN. MEN ARE JUDGED MORE SEVERELY THAN THEIR FEMALE COUNTERPARTS. HOWEVER, THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM DEALS HARSHLY WITH WOMEN WHO ABANDON THEIR FAMILIES OR KILL THEIR HUSBANDS OR CHILDREN. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF FEMALE INMATES AND THE TREATMENT OF WOMEN IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM REFLECT THE EVOLUTION OF WOMEN'S ROLES AND THE INFLUENCE OF THE WOMEN'S LIBERATION MOVEMENT. --IN FRENCH. (MGB)