“This is an exciting, original, and nuanced exploration of the spatial and emotional experiences of families of people in prison. It explores the subject matter in great depth and with sensitivity and scholarly rigour.” — Anna Kotova, University of Birmingham

★ A groundbreaking, in-depth ethnography: Grounded in original fieldwork, it centers on the long‑neglected group of prisoners’ family members, employing a dual lens of geography and feminism to meticulously document and dissect the social and psychological challenges their families confront after a loved one is incarcerated. ★ A nuanced deconstruction of emotion and space: Beyond examining macro‑level concepts such as inequality and penal power, it delves into the multifaceted ways prison reshapes familial emotions, relationships, and identity, keenly capturing the resilience and adaptive strategies through which family members “navigate the experience of incarceration” in their everyday lives.
★ An innovative synthesis of interdisciplinary perspectives: By seamlessly integrating geographical spatial analysis with feminist sensibilities, it offers fresh, empirically grounded insights into “prison geography” and “how families come to experience space both within and beyond the prison,” combining theoretical rigor with humanistic depth.

In this ethnographic study, Maria Adams examines the families of incarcerated individuals from both geographical and feminist perspectives. She documents the social and psychological challenges faced by family members after a loved one is imprisoned, exploring key concepts such as inequality, penal power, and vulnerability. She also assesses the multifaceted impacts of incarceration on family emotions, relationships, and identity, while examining the sources of support and resilience upon which they rely. Drawing on original research and fresh insights, this book deepens our understanding of the geographies of imprisonment and of how families experience space both within and beyond the prison walls.

Maria Adams
Maria Adams is an Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Surrey and also serves as the Programme Director for the university’s MSc in Criminology and MSc in Social Research. She earned her PhD in 2017 with a dissertation titled “We Bear Punishment Alongside Them…—The Lived Experiences of Scottish Prisoners’ Families Inside and Outside Prison.” Prior to her doctoral studies, she obtained an MSc in Sociology from City, University of London and a BA (Hons) in Sociology from the University of Leicester.
Her research and teaching focus primarily on issues related to prisons, including prison food and the impact of incarceration on prisoners’ families.
She leads a project funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) entitled “Eating Porridge: Understanding Women’s Dietary Experiences in Prison.” This two-year study employs qualitative methods and involves 108 women who have shared their experiences concerning food, identity, space, and interpersonal relationships. Based on this research, they produced a three-minute animated short film featuring excerpts from the accounts of three participants. The video, created by Nifty Fox Creative, highlights how food is closely intertwined with these women’s identities, cultures, and self-perceptions. They have also contributed to the podcast series “The Secret Life of Prisons,” producing a special episode on food in women’s prisons.
She is the author of the book Family, Emotion, and Space in Prison, as well as the articles “The Impact of Juvenile Imprisonment on Parents’ Lives” and “Beyond Porridge: Dishes from a Women’s Prison.”

1. Introduction: Getting in and setting the scene
2. Feminist geographies and carceral perspectives
3. The artificial home space: place of care or place of confinement?
4. Regulated spaces
5. Spatialities of waiting
6. Surviving the incarceration process: resilience to time
7. Families’ voices: creating a platform for families’ lives