ABSTRACT
Both White and Black mothers had about the same level of education before prison. Approximately 69 percent of the mothers had up to eleventh-grade education. Information about adult criminal histories was more easily obtained from institutional files. About 83 percent of the mothers had had adult arrests prior to the arrest for which they were convicted and incarcerated. There is some concern for the problem of transmission of criminal behavior from one generation to another. Ann Stanton, for instance, reported that 44 percent of her 54 jail mothers had parents and siblings in jail and another 9 percent had only a parent in jail. Black mothers tend to be younger, less frequently married, and more often from urban areas prior to incarceration than White mothers. Both White and Black mothers have equally poor educations, little vocational training prior to entering prison, and only some work experience.
