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10-01-2020 | Original Paper

Fathers in Jail and their Minor Children: Paternal Characteristics and Associations with Father-Child Contact

Auteurs: Rebecca J. Shlafer, Laurel Davis, Lauren Hindt, Lindsay Weymouth, Hilary Cuthrell, Cynthia Burnson, Julie Poehlmann-Tynan

Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Child and Family Studies | Uitgave 3/2020

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Abstract

Objectives

More than five million children have experienced a co-resident parent leaving to spend time behind bars. Most incarceration occurs in jails, yet little is known about contact between parents in jail and their minor children. Such information is essential to inform programming and policy to support families in the context of incarceration.

Methods

In the present study, 315 fathers in jail with minor children (3–17 years old) were recruited from four jails in the Midwest region of the United States. Fathers in jail reported their demographic information, incarceration-related characteristics (e.g., number of prior arrests), children’s exposure to incarceration-related events, and frequency of contact with their children.

Results

Four main findings emerged: (1) telephone contact was the most common modality for engaging with children during a paternal jail stay, with 22% of fathers reporting daily phone contact with children, (2) types of contact were correlated, so that more phone contact and letter writing were associated with more frequent visits, (3) White, non-Hispanic fathers and those who did not plan to live with their children upon release were less likely to report telephone contact with their children, and (4) children who witnessed their fathers’ arrest were less likely to write and children who witnessed their fathers’ criminal activity were less likely to visit.

Conclusions

Contact between fathers in jail and children has implications for the parent-child relationship. Future research should explore quality of and barriers to contact, including incarceration-related events.
Voetnoten
1
Jailed fathers were not compensated; however, caregivers who participated in other parts of the larger study were compensated and some fathers may have been motivated to participate for this reason.
 
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Metagegevens
Titel
Fathers in Jail and their Minor Children: Paternal Characteristics and Associations with Father-Child Contact
Auteurs
Rebecca J. Shlafer
Laurel Davis
Lauren Hindt
Lindsay Weymouth
Hilary Cuthrell
Cynthia Burnson
Julie Poehlmann-Tynan
Publicatiedatum
10-01-2020
Uitgeverij
Springer US
Gepubliceerd in
Journal of Child and Family Studies / Uitgave 3/2020
Print ISSN: 1062-1024
Elektronisch ISSN: 1573-2843
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01696-3