Family reunification after fathers are released from prison: Perspectives on children's adjustment

• Published date: 01 July 2023
• Author: Luke Muentner,Pajarita Charles
• Date: 01 July 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12739

RESEARCH

Family reunification after fathers are released from

prison: Perspectives on children’s adjustment

Luke Muentner

1

|Pajarita Charles

2

1

Department of Pediatrics, University of

Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN

2

Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work,

University of Wisconsin–Madison,

Madison, WI

Correspondence Luke Muentner, Division of

General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health,

University of Minnesota Twin Cities,

717 Delaware Street SE, Minneapolis, MN

55414, USA.

Email: muent001@umn.edu

Funding information

This research was funded by the Eunice

Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child

Health and Human Development (grants

K99HD081273 and R00HD081273). Any

opinions, findings, conclusions, or

recommendations expressed in this article are

those of the authors and do not necessarily

reflect the views of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver

National Institute of Child Health and Human

Development.

Abstract

Objective: This qualitative study examined adult perspec-

tives on the adjustments children face through the process

of paternal incarceration and eventual release.

Background: While the United States leads the world in

incarceration, 95% of imprisoned individuals return to com-

munity life. Despite poor outcomes for children with incar-

cerated fathers, less is known as to how they fair after

fathers’release. Conceptualizing paternal incarceration and

reentry as linked rather than disparate events, this study

examines perspectives on family separation, reunification,

and children’s adjustment when fathers return from prison.

Method: The sample consisted of 38 participants (19 previously

incarcerated fathers, nine coparenting mothers, and 10 relatives)

who shared perspectives on 63 children’s adjustments. The

semistructured interviews were analyzed via thematic analysis.

Results: Two main themes were evident: (a) Paternal incarcer-

ation has a lasting toll on children that complicates

reunification processes, introduces hurdles to maintaining

togetherness, and is tied to changes in children’s behaviors;

and (b) reentry renews opportunity for father involvement that

bolsters resilience despite ongoing systemic vulnerabilities.

Conclusion: Postrelease family reunification may present

challenges for children’s adjustment, though supported

transitions may curb some concerns. The findings call for

strengths-oriented, needs-focused, and evidence-based

reentry strategies that support entire family systems.

KEYWORDS

children of incarcerated parents, fathers, incarceration, prison, reentry,

release

Received: 16 December 2021Revised: 28 March 2022Accepted: 11 June 2022

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12739

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits

use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or

adaptations are made.

© 2022 The Authors. Family Relations published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of National Council on Family Relations.

1068 Family Relations. 2023;72:1068–1087.

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare

After a 500% increase in jail and prison rates beginning in the 1970s, the United States stands

as the world’s leader in mass incarceration (National Research Council, 2014). However, the

country has begun to enact policy changes with a goal to “decarcerate,”or reduce the incarcer-

ated population. For instance, the First Step Act of 2018 implemented “earned time credits”

that qualify certain individuals in federal prisons for early release while reforming programming

and sentencing constraints (Dolan, 2019). Within its first year, this policy change resulted in

3,000 releases, 1,700 reduced sentences, and budget allocations for ongoing decarceration (U.S.

Department of Justice, 2019). Meanwhile, those with lived experience, activists, scholars, and

service providers are calling for additional efforts that address disparities and lead individuals

to success (e.g., Epperson & Pettus-Davis, 2017). Even with this shift toward release and

reform, particular aspects of community life after prison remain less understood.

As such, narratives around experiences of children with formerly incarcerated parents

remain underexplored despite the large proportion impacted by release. Approximately halfof

the 1.5 million individuals in prison in 2019 were parents—rates even higher for those in jail—

most of whom are fathers, with additional disparities across race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic

status (Carson, 2020; Sawyer & Bertram, 2018). Yet 95% of those incarcerated are eventually

released, with more than 600,000 individuals sent home from prison and 9 million from jail each

year (Beck, 2006; Carson, 2020; Hughes & Wilson, 2003). This means that the many children

who are separated from parents at the time of imprisonment (equating to 7% of all

U.S. children; Murphey & Cooper, 2015) also must navigate complexities that accompany

parental reentry.

While the United States grapples with how to reform the criminal legal system, it continues

releasing individuals at a modest, albeit slow, pace. Recent analyses with Bureau of Justice

Statistics data show that at the current rate of decarceration it would take until 2085 to reduce

the prison population in half (Ghandnoosh, 2020). As such, it is imperative to understand expe-

riences of reintegration more holistically to support people upon release. More research is

needed around adults’perceptions of the consequences for children when parents return from

prison to build knowledge that can be used to promote positive and successful family

reunifications. Toward this end, this qualitative study leverages the perspectives of recently

released fathers, coparenting mothers, and relatives to share accounts of family reunification

and aspects of children’s adjustment in the first year after a father’s release.

BACKGROUND

When fathers become incarcerated, the separation from children and loved ones can induce a

shock to the family system that has implications for the incarcerated individual, the

caregiver(s), and children. For instance, fathers who are incarcerated may experience elevated

rates of trauma and PTSD symptoms, unmet mental health needs, weakened physical health,

strained family ties, and depleted economic resources (Geller et al., 2011; Milavetz et al., 2021;

Semenza & Grosholz, 2019). When fathers go to prison, mothers take on added responsibilities

or step into caregiving roles in new ways, thus increasing mental health strain, parenting stress,

social stigma, and financial instability (Arditti & McGregor, 2019; Nesmith & Ruhland, 2011).

Evident here is how, across the board, paternal incarceration can have a destabilizing effect for

both fathers and caregivers—the consequences of which also extend to children.

Although parental incarceration may have safeguarding benefits for children in situations of

violence within the household (Wildeman, 2010), the imprisonment of a parent has largely been

found to harm children and compromise their development (Eddy & Poehlmann-Tynan, 2019).

Pointedly, parental incarceration is in and of itself an adverse childhood experience that situates

impacted children at 5 times greater odds of additional adversity (Turney, 2018). Parental incar-

ceration is a particularly potent adverse childhood experience that is directly related to stress,

FAMILY REUNIFICATION AFTER FATHERS’RELEASE FROM PRISON1069