Make‐Believe Families and Homosexuality Among Imprisoned Girls

Methodological issues associated with measuring homosexuality and make‐believe families were examined. A clear operational definition of each was then used to measure their incidence and relationship to each other. Data from the staff and inmates of three coed and four all‐female training schools indicated that homosexuality and make‐believe families were as prevalent in coed as in female institutions, and that most make‐believe family groupings consisted of asexual sister‐sister and mother‐daughter relationships. Homosexual marriages were rare, and girls who did not adopt make‐believe family roles were just as likely to report homosexual experiences as those who were in families. Thus, correlations between homosexual experiences and being in a make‐believe family were weak and negative. Explanations are suggested for the nonobvious findings and the results are compared to other reports in previous literature.