The article reveals the peculiarities of women's ideas about family and children in deviant motherhood. The unique is the study of ideas about family, children and motherhood among women who have children and are serving sentences in a penitentiary institution. The main research method was content analysis of associations to the words “family”, “child”, “mother”. The author identifies categories of association words that reveal specifics of respondents’ ideas about family. The article describes the categories and reveals the peculiarities of the perception of motherhood and family. The composition of the family is represented by the closest relatives: children, parents, spouses. The respondents' mental states are sthenic, personality-driven, humanitarian, and emotional. The main emotions and experiences of respondents are positive. Negative experiences are associated mainly with the feelings of guilt and distant motherhood, as well as the experience of destructive relationships in their own family. The range of negative experiences is greater than the positive ones. The article shows the respondents' perception of a mother with positive characteristics such as tenderness, kindness, and confidence. “Mom” shows care and responsibility. The interaction between mother and child is emotional; the range of specific actions in relation to the child is small. The focus (in ideal terms) on constructive, favorable family relationships has been revealed. At the same time, the practical orientation towards creating and maintaining such relationships is weakly expressed. The activity component of motherhood is impoverished. The child is infantilized by their mothers. A mother's responsibility to her child is a necessary characteristic for her. Psychological and pedagogical support for such mothers, as well we increasing their pedagogical competence, are seen crucial to solve the difficulties of deviant motherhood.