When reporting on play families, the chapter material notes that the relationships created in the ...

The play mother may be a better mother to her inmate daughters than her real-life mother was to her while growing up, or better that the inmate was to her own children before imprisonment. Various reasons may explain this situation, but answers may include mention of the prison environment allowing more attention to be paid to these relationships than was possible on the outside, fewer distractions by such real-life issues as employment or lack of it, and even a realization of the importance for positive social relationships as a means of avoiding a return to prison.

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