Incarcerated Fathers and Their Children

Abstract

High incarceration rates have led to more interest in the effects of incarceration on families, especially children. Most research has focused on the relationship between incarcerated mothers and their children. This study centered on father-child relationships and potential barriers to maintaining and developing them. A sample of 185 incarcerated fathers was interviewed within a maximum security state prison in the southern United States. Multiple regression analyses indicated two family barriers (children's mother's attitude and children's attitude) made a statistically significant contribution to explaining inmates' self-reports concerning relationships with their children. Measures of institutional barriers were not found to statistically contribute to the models. Fathers' responses to an open-ended question about relationships with their children support the quantitative findings. The research suggests that strategies for improving parent-child relationships for the male incarcerated population should focus not only on institutional barriers but also on family barriers.

Relationship Intervention for Inmates and Their Partners: Bringing Couples Together Before Release

“…In general, compared with single inmates, inmates who have a healthy and stable marriage during incarceration experience many benefits, including mental and physical health and increased well-being (Einhorn et al, 2008). However, male offenders historically receive less social support from their families than female inmates (Eddy et al, 2008;Hairston, Rollin, & Jo, 2004;Swanson, Lee, Sansone, & Tatum, 2013). Hairston et al (2004) reported that when inmates were asked how many visits they received in the last month, 65% of male inmates reported not having a visit from any family member versus 62% of female inmates.…”

Young Fathers in Jail: Associations between Father Experiences, Father–Child Relationships, and Community Stability

“…The father-child relationship has important implications for both incarcerated fathers and their children. For incarcerated fathers, a self-perception of poor fathering role and fatherchild relationship is associated with higher risk of depression (Hairston, 1998;Swanson et al, 2013); conversely, a perception of a good father-child relationship is associated with an estimated higher level of social support from all sources including family, friends, and significant others (Swanson et al, 2012). Healthy father-child relationships have positive effects on incarcerated fathers during incarceration and after release (Hairston, 2007;Swanson et al, 2013).…”

“…For incarcerated fathers, a self-perception of poor fathering role and fatherchild relationship is associated with higher risk of depression (Hairston, 1998;Swanson et al, 2013); conversely, a perception of a good father-child relationship is associated with an estimated higher level of social support from all sources including family, friends, and significant others (Swanson et al, 2012). Healthy father-child relationships have positive effects on incarcerated fathers during incarceration and after release (Hairston, 2007;Swanson et al, 2013). Fathers with closer relationships with children before and during incarceration are more likely to have higher levels of father involvement, more weekly work hours, and lower recidivism rate after release (Visher et al, 2013).…”

“…Multiple factors, including the location of prison or jail, institutional policies such as visitation policies (e.g., the number and length of visit allowed, visitation conditions) and communication policies (e.g., the cost of phone calls), and family circumstances, such as children's attitude and children's mother's attitude, may influence incarcerated fathers' relationship with their children (Swanson et al, 2013). Moreover, the experience and characteristics of incarcerated fathers may play a role in their father-child relationship.…”

Incarcerated Fathers and Their Children in The Netherlands: Demographic and Detention Factors That Affect the Father–Child Relationship: A Secondary Analysis

“…Also, fathers’ previous incarcerations, type of offense, and length of the current stay in prison are detention factors that impact father–child contact (Arditti et al, 2005; Clarke et al, 2005; Swanson et al, 2013). For example, Lee et al (2012) noted that incarcerated fathers with multiple convictions were less likely to spend time with their children while incarcerated.…”