Enforced Family Separation: A Descriptive Analysis of Some Experiences of Children of Black Imprisoned Mothers

There are approximately 30,000 incarcerated women in jails and prisons in the United States, representing 6% of the incarcerated population (National Coalition of Jail Reform, 1984; U.S. Department of Justice, 1983). Black women comprise at least half of all women in jails and State and Federal correctional institutions (Green, 1981; U.S. Department of Justice, 1983; National Coalition of Jail Reform, 1984).