Family Law Clinics are a valuable source of information for parents, especially non-custodial fathers, to learn about legal rights and options regarding child support, custody, parenting time, arrearages, and other areas of family law. This checklist offers tips for hosting a successful clinic in the community. (Author abstract modified)
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Journal Article This article describes Fit 2-B FATHERS, a social and parenting skills program for males in the corrections system that has been found to improve participants attitudes about themselves, their role as fathers, and their understanding of positive parenting practices. The program is designed to help participants become less of a security risk during the remainder of their sentence and reduce rates of recidivism following their release. Components of the program are discussed, as are results from a study of 227 participating inmates. Results indicate a statistically significant program impact on…
This book examines the potential effect of termination of parental rights (TPR) provisions in the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA) on children of prisoners. It explores the rate children of incarcerated parents are becoming the subjects of TPR hearings, if the hearings are triggered by the timelines delineated in ASFA, whether there has been an increase in the rate of TPR for children of prisoners since passage of ASFA, and whether children of prisoners are becoming the subjects of TPR at a higher rate then other children in foster care. Data for the investigation was collected…
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Journal Article The fatherhood literature has expanded over the past several decades, yet the role that fathers may play in their relationships with their problematic adolescents has not been fully examined. Furthermore, because previous findings have suggested that fathers of court-involved daughters may be experiencing intrapsychic and interpersonal difficulties of their own, the present study examined a range of issues that fathers might be facing in their attempts to parent a daughter engaged in problematic behaviors. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 14 fathers who…
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Journal Article This study investigated the experiences of incarcerated fathers, their perceptions of fatherhood, and the nature of their involvement with their children. Fifty-one incarcerated fathers confined at two minimum security correctional facilities were interviewed approximately one month prior to their release from prison. A qualitative content analysis revealed detailed description pertaining to participants' feelings of helplessness and the difficulties of being a "good father" while in prison. Incarceration represented a dormant period for men in terms of fatherhood, and reentry signified an…
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Journal Article With incarceration and recidivism rates escalating and the failure of many former prisoners to reconnect with family post release, the cost to society and to children of incarcerated parents is quickly rising. While intervention on the family level is thought to have great promise in reducing recidivism, in order to effectively guide research and intervention, current theory must be evaluated for its sensitivity to the context of incarceration and additional theoretical work is needed to conceptualize how incarceration affects paternal identity. This paper proposes using identity theory to…
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Journal Article In this study, we explore the process of negotiation between mothers and fathers to secure, to restrict, and to define men's roles in their children's lives. Field notes and life history interview data were collected with 40 incarcerated men in a work-release program in a Midwestern metropolitan community. Partnering relationships were marked by confusion and conflict due to incarceration, deteriorating commitments, and stresses of low-income family life. Half of the participants described their children's mothers' efforts to discourage their involvement, while almost 75% noted instances of…
