Successful reentry is one of the greatest challenges facing America today and, especially the future of our children. The greatest predictor of whether a child will wind up in prison is whether his parent(s)— namely, the father—was in prison. Despite the many daunting challenges that fathers face upon their release, connecting them with their children and family is perhaps the most strategic one to address because it breaks the generational nature of crime and incarceration.
Men and women who are incarcerated face substantial challenges to maintaining their family relationships, both intimate and parenting. These difficulties continue as they reenter into society after their incarceration. Absence from or low levels of contact between partners due to incarceration places strain on marriages and serious romantic relationships. Parental absence due to incarceration can also imperil the well-being of children (if the parent-child relationship was not abusive). Studies show that incarcerated individuals with closer family relationships have lower recidivism rates,…
Unpublished Paper
Strict criminal justice policies, such as long-term sentences, are interfering in the achievement of welfare reform goals to promote marriage and parental involvement. This report analyzes data from the Fragile Families Study to examine the impact of criminal justice policies on the likelihood that unwed parents will form a family together. A total of 3,600 unwed couples and 1,100 married couples are being interviewed at the time of their child's birth and five one-year intervals. Study participants are being recruited from 20 cities with different welfare regimes and labor markets.…
Other
In 2008, 1 out of every 100 adults in the United States was incarcerated (Pew Center, 2008). Rates of incarceration are historically higher among men and the most disadvantaged, and these groups have experienced a disproportionate increase in their rates of incarceration from 1980 to 2008(Western and Wildeman, 2009). Using the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), this Profile provides an analysis of young men's contact with the criminal justice system (i.e., probation or incarceration) by the age of 25. It includes information on educational attainment, race/ethnicity,…
