The article presents the results of a research project addressed to long-term female inmates in the penitentiary institutions of the Czech Republic and Poland. The conduct of long-term prisoners in the conditions of prison confi nement was examined from the perspective of relevant dimensions of the prison environment, simultaneously taking into consideration their relations with immediate family and children. The research made it possible to identify the types of structure of meaning of life

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... ng female inmates serving long-term prison sentences. The article addresses also the issue of laws pertaining to standards of penitentiary proceedings taking into account maintaining family relations as a signifi cant link in the process of social inclusion.