Ronald Aday and Jennifer Krabill offer a complete picture of the experience of older women prisoners and the distinct challenges these women present for correctional institutions.

The authors integrate their quantitative findings with the voices of individual inmates to explore essential concerns such as health, inmate and family relationships, prison adjustment, and end-of-life issues. They also consider the enduring impact of intimate partner violence. While painting a vivid portrait of struggles to build lives behind bars, the authors share critical insights into the social forces that shape women's contact with all stages of the criminal justice system.

Ronald H. Aday is professor of sociology at Middle Tennessee State University. Jennifer J. Krabill is a research associate at the Tennessee Center for Gerontology and Geriatric Research.