Judith Rakers in the Vechta women's prison - she lets herself be admitted like a prisoner, is subjected to body checks and is given an eight-square-metre cell. During her further stay in prison, she gets a personal impression of the penal system. The women she meets are convicted of theft, fraud and attempted manslaughter. Some live in prison with their children. Judith Rakers learns how the women went off the rails, what role childhood violence and drug use played. She visits several resocialisation programmes at the prison, from drug rehabilitation to violence prevention to vocational training. With the head of the prison, Oliver Weßels, she explores the chances of success of the resocialisation measures.