The Effect of Criminal History on Father Involvement: The Moderating Role of Maternal and Kin Support and Relationship Quality
A growing body of evidence indicates the critical role of fathers in the lives of children. Men with a history of antisocial and criminal behavior tend to be less involved with their children, despite research indicating that positive father involvement can be beneficial for child outcomes. Preliminary evidence suggests that support and relationship quality with extended kin and mothers may play a role in father involvement. This study examines the relation of criminal history and father involvement and the extent to which support and relationship quality with mothers and extended kin moderate this relation. This study is important to social work researchers and practitioners involved with preventive interventions that promote father involvement and healthy child development.
Method
The study sample of 146 fathers and their 331 children is drawn from the larger sample of men participating in the Chicago Youth Development Study, a longitudinal and intergenerational study of minority men living in inner-city Chicago. Men reported on the extent of their involvement with their children, measured along three dimensions: father responsibility (paying for things, getting things done, influencing major decisions); father engagement (recreation, education, caregiving); and father accessibility (access to and seeing the child). Men also reported on their antisocial and criminal behavior history, as well as relationship quality and supportiveness of the fathering role by mothers and extended kin (fathers’ and mothers’ adult male and female relatives). Multilevel linear models were conducted to examine the relation of fathers’ criminal behavior and father involvement, and the moderating role of relationship quality and supportiveness by mothers and extended kin. All models included controls for fathers’ marital and socioeconomic status and children’s characteristics (age, gender, biological status, fathers’ residence).
Results
Bivariate analyses indicated a significant negative association between criminality and father involvement in three aspects of father involvement: pay (p<.01), getting things done (p<.01), and seeing the child (p<.01). Significant interaction effects (p<.05) were found between fathers’ criminality and support and relationship quality with fathers’ adult male relatives for seven aspects of involvement. Examination of interaction effects indicated that relationship quality and fathering support from fathers’ adult male relatives moderated the effect of criminality on father involvement: for fathers without positive support or high relationship quality, the level of father involvement decreased as criminality increased; for fathers with positive support or high relationship quality, the level of father involvement remained relatively stable as criminality increased. There were no significant effects for fathers’ female relatives and two significant effects (p<.05) for mothers’ kin (seeing the child and recreation).
Implications
Despite evidence of fathers’ criminality having a negative influence on paternal involvement with children, this study suggests the potential for extended family, specifically adult males, to play a role in buffering this relation. Implications of the study are valuable to social workers as it provides insight into how interventions that promote father involvement and healthy child development may be tailored to foster support and relationships between fathers and the male relatives in their lives to enhance father involvement and improve child outcomes.