Abstract

Welcome to the fall issue of volume 3 of the JPER.

The spring issue appeared with a focus on women in prison. Brittnie Aiello and Krista McQueeney contributed an article on the implications for understanding motherhood as a mechanism of moral identity and social control. They discussed how incarcerated mothers constructed moral identities in the face of stigma of incarceration. Following an analysis of data from participant observation and in-depth interviews with incarcerated mothers, they discuss how mothers claim moral identities by embracing the identity of incarcerated mothers to reinforce the assumptions that motherhood is compulsory and should be reserved for women with enough money and standing to give their children advantages.