“Always having hope”: Father–child relationships after reentry from prison

Despite a substantial base of literature on father-child relationships, little is known about how incarceration affects these relationships, or how fathers connect with and support their children during the reentry period. In the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering (MFS-IP) sample, deterioration from preincarceration to reentry was evident in various aspects of father-child relationships, including reduced coresidence, financial support, and frequency of father-child activities. Multivariate modeling and qualitative analysis identified factors that shaped these aspects of father-child relationships at reentry, including father-child contact during incarceration, child age, and fathers' relationships with their partners or coparents.