as Giallombardo noted in her 1966 study. History and theories Early studies of pseudo-families focused on the homosexual couples within the families rather than on the family groups themselves, though the women within them stated that sexual gratification was not their main reason for entering and maintaining a pseudo-family. While conventional interpretations of this practice has seen it as significantly different from gang grouping in male prisoners, some researchers are challenging this interpretation as a misreading of gang groupings in women's prisons based on gender bias. Though it is still popular in the public opinion, the phenomenon has gradually become less widely studied by sociologists since the 1970s. According to some researchers, this is due to a decrease in pseudo-family relationships in women's prisons, others have simply focused on women inmates' social groups in other ways as they believe the pseudo-family is not a distinct social phenomenon. Functions Pseudo-families provide members with emotional and financial support, companionship, and protection from other inmates. One study of over 200 inmates in two Texan prisons found that 50% of participants in pseudo-families considered the feeling of companionship and comfort to be the most significant aspects of family membership. This study also found that members of families had significantly higher rates of participation in fights and disciplinary action than did non-members, though many respondents noted that guards were more likely to harass members and the researchers found a high degree of bias against pseudo-family and homosexual relationships among the correctional staff. The presence of pseudo families fits into the overall model of the experience of women in prison as more reliant on other inmates than males typically admit to being. While they frequently state in interviews that they prefer to handle their emotional life by themselves, most female inmates practice interpersonal techniques to relieve stress and moderate their emotional experience. This tendency was noted by Kimberly Greer in her study of the inmates of a Midwestern women's prison. Greer conducted in-depth interviews with 35 inmates in 1997, focusing on relationships and emotional management. She describes the explanations women give for attempting to ignore or deny strong emotional feeling or pain, which include past victimization and distrust of other inmates, as well as women's reactions to and coping mechanisms for unwanted emotion, which included spiritual experiences, distraction from the emotion, and humor. Ultimately, she finds that women prefer to self-regulate their emotional states, and primarily