Again, the first chapter talks about the women's prison overall being about their children on the outside and the families they form on the inside. The fact that their children, if they have any, supposedly mean so much to them kind of confuses me because they knew the life they were getting into and yet they didn't seem to care at that point, so why do they care so much. For their own survival? Thinking only of themselves? That's what that says to me. I mean my mom brought me and my sister up alone my dad didn't always make the child support payments, but yet she didn't resort to drugs or crime, she worked hard overtime, what ever she had to do she did to make me and my sister happy and be able to get to where we are today. These moms talk to their kids, usually only through mail or phone, but yet don't have the courage to see their kids in prison. I would see this as a way to discourage their kids from growing and becoming like them. .
The point that women's prisons form families, seems to me, as much as they say women's prisons are different than men's, this is just a different way to form a gang. True, it might be more politically correct, meaning less violent and more "productive", so to say, but yet it's still the "crew" that has your back so that you"re not alone. An important thing that is brought up is that in a man's prison, most visits come from the women in their life outside prison, in a woman's prison, more visits come from family members or whoever is taking care of their children outside the prison. I think that this point does show one big difference between the two prison atmospheres. I feel that the matrilineal family is very much like a gang. The fact that there is one head of the family and everyone under them is their child therefore is basically ruled by that one head person. .
The development of the families is interesting, how they decide what part you will play and who you are in the family is interesting to me.