In recent years, sharp increases in the female prison population have landed more mothers behind bars. While the experiences of imprisoned women may differ substantially from free mothers, studies suggest that motherhood is important for many imprisoned mothers. The current study uses a sample of 210 imprisoned mothers and multivariate modeling to investigate how familial relationships before and during imprisonment and mothers’ postrelease expectations influence the salience of maternal identity. Findings suggest that regardless of demographic factors, close mother–caregiver relationships, contact with family during imprisonment, and expecting to have custody of children upon release positively impacts imprisoned women’s mothering identities.

Previous studies investigate whether religion aids in rehabilitation and acclimation to the prison structure among the incarcerated. However, few studies investigate whether and how religion and spirituality can assist incarcerated persons as they attempt to cope with the strains of fulfilling family roles while behind bars. Neither does previous prison research adequately investigate the intersections of race, gender, religion, spirituality and mothering. The present study is based on focus groups with fifteen African American mothers in a Midwestern maximum-security prison. Findings give voice to this marginalized group and illustrate the ways in which these mothers utilize religion and spirituality to make sense of their incarceration and cope with the role strain associated with being an imprisoned mother. Implications for prison policy and future research are discussed.

Since the early 1990s, the number of children with imprisoned mothers has increased 131%. A mother's imprisonment potentially exposes children to a concentrated disadvantage that undermines their cognitive, emotional, and intellectual abilities. Additionally, such experiences can have deleterious effects on mother‐child relationships, stand‐in caregivers, foster care caseloads, the penal system, and society. Less may be understood, however, about how imprisonment affects the ways in which women view themselves as mothers. This study examines mothering attitudes for a sample of 210 Black, White, and Hispanic imprisoned mothers. Nested modeling results suggest a positive relationship between favorable views about mothering and children's profiles and mothers' expectations about future custody. Regular contact with their children through letter writing and telephone calls foster the most favorable views.

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Criminal justice programs have grown dramatically in recent deca-Received 10 April 2020 des. Yet, relatively little is known about what motivates students to Accepted 20 August 2020 choose criminal justice as a major and what their career goals are after graduation. In light of current uprisings and demands for crim-KEYWORDS inal justice reform, this study investigates the relationship between Criminal justice careers; undergraduate students' personal characteristics and the criminal characteristics of criminal justice careers to which they are attracted. Findings can inform crim-attractiveness in inal justice curriculum development and student retention, as well criminal justice as recruitment and hiring practices for criminal justice agencies.This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.