Associations Between Incarcerated Fathers’ Cumulative Childhood Risk and Contact With Their Children

Abstract

Incarcerated fathers often experience early life risk factors that cumulate over time and are compounded by the negative repercussions of imprisonment. These dynamics may contribute to the intergenerational transmission of risk and help explain the persistent link between paternal incarceration and poor child outcomes. Contact between incarcerated fathers and their children can benefit them both, but there is limited research on the factors that affect father–child contact. Using data from the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities and a sample of fathers with at least one minor child (N = 5,809), the authors found that incarcerated fathers who experienced more childhood risk factors had less frequent contact with their children. A variety of inmate characteristics were also significant predictors of father–child contact. Parenting interventions could address incarcerated fathers’ childhood risk experiences, which likely undermine the development and maintenance of family relationships, to help them develop prosocial skills.

Incarceration and Family Stress as Understood through the Family Process Theory: Evidence from Hong Kong

“…Thus, while trying to improve avenues of support for inmates and their families, it may prove valuable to firstly recognize the importance of family rituals, and to further facilitate the establishment of new rituals following the incarceration. The latter may be done by adjusting mail-writing and visitation policies to be more flexible and accommodating, particularly since participants also mentioned the difficulties involved in their family members’ visiting; prison visitation systems being not very family friendly is a point that has commonly been brought up in the literature (e.g., Christian, 2005 ; Nesmith and Ruhland, 2008 ; Chui, 2010 ; Galardi et al, 2015 ), and one that should be worth addressing. However, it should be acknowledged that a considerable number of participants who reported a rather strained and dysfunctional family relationship with their partner and children prior to their incarceration did not seem to voice this concern in the present study.…”

Voices of the incarcerated father: Struggling to live up to fatherhood

“…The expansion of research in this area has been attributed to increases in the prison population warranting greater academic interest, increasingly drawing to light the fact that imprisonment has substantial impacts on the life trajectories of children of an incarcerated parent (Blumstein and Beck, 1999; Brodsky, 1975; Goffman, 1961; Hairston, 1998, 2002, 2004; Hairston and Lockett, 1987; Jorgensen et al, 1986; Massoglia and Warner, 2011; Mauer, 2001; Pfaff, 2008; Porter and King, 2015; Schwartz and Weintraub, 1974; Swan, 1981). For instance, incarcerated parents tend to have children with behavioural problems, academic difficulties and psychological suffering (Bendheim-Thoman Centre for Research on Child Wellbeing, 2008; Bloom, 1995; Boswell and Wedge, 2002; Galardi et al, 2015; Johnston, 1995; Kampfner, 1995; Markson et al, 2015; Murray and Farrington, 2008; Murray et al, 2012; Wildeman, 2009). Partners of the incarcerated are also likely to be affected.…”

Examining the Outcomes of the InsideOut Dad Fatherhood Education Program for Incarcerated Minority Fathers

“…Feeling a greater sense of empowerment may also speak to the improved perceptions of subjective well-being that participants displayed. This is another positive outcome, as positive perceptions of mental health and social support have been found to benefit incarcerated fathers in the areas of societal reintegration and reduced recidivism (Galardi et al, 2017; Pettus-Davis, 2014).…”