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Mothers behind bars: a call for research.

The fastest growing group of inmates in the United States is women with children. Women are incarcerated at a rate double than that of men (Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, 2006). Since 1980 there has been an almost 500% increase in the number of incarcerated women across the United States (Frost, Green, & Pranis, 2006). A survey conducted by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (2006) revealed in 1999 that 70% of new female inmates had children under the age of 18. As this prison population increases, it is even more important to study the needs of incarcerated mothers and their children in systematic and logical programs of nursing research. Previous research has examined the unique needs of this growing and vulnerable population; specifically, prison parenting programs, identification of the basic needs of the prisoner, and the assessment of the effects of stress and adjustment on the incarcerated.