Ka'Juan Moore, M.A.

She/her

Education: Bachelor of Science in sociology and criminology (May 2016)

Master of Arts in criminology, law, and justice from the University of Illinois at Chicago

McNair Project: Mothering Behind Bars: The Role of Contact Maintenance Programs on the Mothering Identity of Incarcerated Women (2015)

Mentor: Lisa Melander, Ph.D.

The purpose of the present study is to explore how participation in prison based contact maintenance programs impacts female inmates with regards to their mothering identity. Interviews were conducted with 34 incarcerated women who were either current or former participants of Women's Activity and Learning Center (WALC) program. There was also 1 interview with a prison administrator and participant observation conducted at a retreat where 12 inmates and 31 children were present with 15 UMW volunteers. Each in-depth interview, lasted 10-50 minutes and was conducted in a semi-private area in the WALC visitation areas in maximum and minimum security units. The average age of these inmates was 32 ½ years of age with a range of 24 to 53. The majority of the participants were white (82%) and the average number of kids per inmate was 2.5 with a range of 1 to 7. In the end, the interviews were transcribed verbatim. Once the interviews are transcribed, coding will commence.