The purpose of this thesis was to find out female prisoners’ plans for the future. The study was carried out in cooperation with Vanaja prison’s Va-naja unit. The aim was to study what kinds of future plans female prisoners have when in prison. The aim was also to explore what kinds of obstacles the female prisoners face when trying to carry out these plans; what kinds of means they use when doing it, and what kind of help they felt they needed.

The theoretical basis of the thesis consisted of information about female prisoners and their situation in Finland, prisoner’s life management skills and prisoner rehabilitation. Former studies which deal with prisoners and are related to this study are also reported in the theoretical background.

The research material was collected by diary method and participant observation. Six women participated in the study and they had three weeks to write their plans for the future in the diaries. The participant observation was implemented during four weeks in June 2012.

The results of the study show that female prisoners’ future plans included family relations, sobriety, education, job, hobbies, home and maintenance of health. The factors that complicate carrying out the plans were described as intoxicants, wrong company, the difficulty of getting a job, family relations, financial issues, getting sick and not having a daily rhythm. The female prisoners needed help from social care experts, a support person, the officials and the employees of the prison. As a method of support the results indicated that female prisoners wanted to have discussions and to hear ex-convicts telling their life stories.