THE ROMANIAN WIVES OF PRISONERS
THE ROMANIAN WIVES OF PRISONERS

Summary/Abstract: Recent studies show that more than 10.1 million people are incarcerated throughout the world, the prison population having increased worldwide in 78percent of the countries from 2009 to 2011 (Walmsley 2011). In Romania, the National Prison Administration reported in 2014 a total of 30156 prisoners of which 28577 were over 22 years of age. These figures are an indication that many of the imprisoned people have families and partners on the outside. Prisoners’ wives represent a topic that has been little approached in the literature. This study explores the impact of imprisonment on marital relationships and on the wellbeing of Romanian wives of prisoners by collecting information from thirteen women through in depth interviews. The findings suggest that the wives of prisoners are affected not just by the stigmatizing role of being the wife of an inmate, but mostly by the ignorance of their partners with respect to the feelings and hardships the women experience while being on the outside.

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