Fathers in Reentry: A Qualitative Study of Parents' Experiences about Fatherhood after Prison

Background
Almost half of all prisoners in the U.S. are fathers, many of whom leave prison each year to return to their children, families, and communities. Most incarcerated fathers, however, receive minimal transition planning before reentry with little emphasis on their role as a parent. Much of the extant literature on parental reentry focuses on mothers and children with far less understood about fathers returning home from prison. Children of incarcerated fathers face numerous problems including traumatic separation, stigma, unstable housing, irregular child care, and reduced income. These issues, combined with the challenges of successful reentry from prison among fathers, calls for increased services to promote positive parenting practices and father engagement among this group. The current qualitative study focused on fathers’ experience in reentry, barriers and supports to father involvement after prison, and services that could promote positive father-child engagement during reintegration. The study is part of a larger project to design an intervention to improve child outcomes among fathers in reentry from prison.

Method
Fathers with a child (12 or younger) released from prison in the previous year, and mothers partnered with fathers who met the study criteria, were interviewed for approximately 1-1 ½ hours using a semi-structured interview guide (n=15). Participants were recruited through social service agencies that serve formerly incarcerated individuals and their family members. Participants answered questions about the experience of parenting from prison (or having a partner incarcerated, in the case of mothers), the reentry process in the context of parenting, factors that hinder or facilitate father-child relations, and resources that could support positive father-family engagement after release from prison. Interviews were transcribed, coded and analyzed using a grounded theory approach.

Results
Results indicated that fathers endured significant loss because of disconnectedness from their children and disruption in their parenting role. Once released from prison, fathers reported trying to parent in customary ways but also having to compensate to repair damaged bonds. Lack of economic resources, stable employment, and adequate housing posed major barriers to father involvement, as did low-quality mother-father relationships. Supports to father engagement included community agencies and extended family. Mothers reported challenges of having a partner in prison and the resulting absence of income and protection from the “streets” that fathers often provided for their children when home. Resources that parents thought would be helpful to children and families with reentering fathers included father-child activities to encourage socialization, employment supports to enhance fathers’ financial contributions, and whole-family programming where parents, children, and extended family could spend quality time together.

Implications
The findings suggest that fathers released from prison and their partners experience a multiplicity of challenges during the reentry process that may play an especially salient role as fathers try to reconnect with their children. Parents indicated an interest in various services that could promote positive father-child bonding during the reintegration period that could potentially lead to improved child outcomes and overall family wellbeing. Implications for social work research and practice, and the Smart Decarceration Social Work Grand Challenge, are considered.