Incarcerated fathers and parenting: importance of the relationship with their children

Soc Work Public Health. 2012;27(1-2):165-86. doi: 10.1080/19371918.2012.629902.

Abstract

This study examined the relationships of incarcerated fathers (n = 185) with their children while in a maximum security prison. Despite the attention to parental incarceration and at-risk children, the child welfare and corrections literature has focused mostly on imprisoned mothers and children. Demographic, sentence, child-related, and program participation factors were investigated for their influence on father-child relationships. Multiple regression analyses indicated race and sentence contributed to the father's positive perceptions of contacts with their children. Most important, many, though serving lengthy sentences, valued and perceived a positive father-child relationship. Results are discussed in light of implications for future research and social policy.

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Psychological
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Black or African American
  • Child
  • Child Welfare / psychology
  • Child, Preschool
  • Data Collection
  • Ethnicity
  • Father-Child Relations*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interview, Psychological
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Parenting / psychology*
  • Prisoners / psychology*
  • Prisons
  • Psychometrics
  • Risk
  • Social Support
  • Stress, Psychological*
  • United States
  • Young Adult