To stay or go: Relationship dissolution and repartnering after paternal incarceration

• Published date: 01 July 2022
• Author: Allison Dwyer Emory
• Date: 01 July 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12657

RESEARCH

To stay or go: Relationship dissolution and

repartnering after paternal incarceration

Allison Dwyer Emory

Department of Sociology, University at

Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, United States

Correspondence

Allison Dwyer Emory, Department of

Sociology, University at Buffalo, 430 Park

Hall, Buffalo NY 14260-4140, USA.

Email: ademory@buffalo.edu

Funding information

This research was funded in part by a Family

Strengthening Scholars Grant (#90PD0293)

from the Office of Planning, Research and

Evaluation, Administration for Children and

Families, U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services. The contents are solely the

responsibility of the author and do not

necessarily represent the official views of the

Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation,

the Administration for Children and Families,

or the U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services. Support for the Fragile Families and

Child Wellbeing study was provided by the

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of

Child Health and Human Development

through grants R01HD36916, R01HD39135,

and R01HD40421, as well as a consortium of

private foundations, but no direct support was

provided from these grants for the present

study.

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated how relationship disso-

lution and repartnering shape women’s relationship qual-

ity after their partner’s incarceration and evaluates

whether incarceration is a unique context for relationship

transitions.

Background: Millions of couples in the United States face

incarceration each year, and many relationships do not

survive the experience. Although these breakups are typi-

cally framed as negative events, it is unclear whether rela-

tionship dissolution harms or helps women navigating the

incarceration of their partner or coparent.

Method: Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families

study, this article contrasts the experiences of women who

stayed with their child’s father through his incarceration,

those who separated and remained single, and those who

separated and repartnered. Three domains of relationship

quality were considered: cooperativeness of parenting rela-

tionships, supportiveness of romantic relationships, and

risk of domestic violence.

Results: Data reveal that most relationships end, creating

an opportunity for mothers to form stronger relationships

with more advantaged new partners. Incarceration also

provides a distinct context for repartnering, amplifying

both the advantages and disadvantages of dissolution.

Conclusion: Most couples experiencing paternal incarcera-

tion will also navigate relationship dissolution, and many

will integrate a new partner into the family. For many

women, particularly those whose relationships have

become violent, these transitions may be sources of resil-

ience rather than hardship.

Implications: Rather than a proscriptive focus on preserv-

ing families, these findings highlight the need to support

families simultaneously navigating incarceration and

changing family roles.

Received: 15 October 2020Revised: 24 May 2021Accepted: 9 September 2021

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12657

© 2022 National Council on Family Relations.

Family Relations. 2022;71:1191–1210. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare 1191

Nineteen percent of women in the United States have experienced the incarceration of a roman-

tic partner or coparent (Enns et al., 2019), with serious implications for family relationships.

The strain associated with a partner’s incarceration is high, particularly if the couple shared

children or coresided, and these relationships are at particularly high risk of ending

(Turney, 2015a). Relationship dissolution is often framed as a negative outcome, reflecting the

importance of these relationships for incarcerated men’s ongoing involvement with their chil-

dren and successful reentry back into their communities (Geller, 2013; Visher & Travis, 2003).

It is less clear that ending a relationship with an incarcerated man is consistently detrimental

for their partners, however. It is well documented that incarceration can damage and strain

relationships (Comfort, 2008; Turney, 2015a,2015b; Turney & Wildeman, 2013; Western

et al., 2004), but few studies have considered how this strain restructures the trade-offs associ-

ated with relationship dissolution and repartnering after a partner’s incarceration.

This study posed two research questions about incarceration-related relationship dissolution

for women who were romantically involved and shared a child with an incarcerated man. First,

how do the romantic and parenting relationships of women who remain with their partner

through his incarceration compare to those of women whose relationships ended and either

remained single or repartnered? The quality of women’s relationships with both their child’s

father and their new partner was considered across three domains: degree of cooperation in par-

enting relationships, degree of emotional support in romantic relationships, and recent exposure

to domestic violence. Second, is incarceration a unique context for relationship dissolution and

repartnering? This question was addressed by contrasting the experiences of mothers who made

similar relationship transitions but whose partners were not incarcerated. Analyses used data

from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCW), which provided rich longitudi-

nal data on relationships and partner incarceration among the families most vulnerable to crim-

inal justice contact. This article provides a new lens for understanding how women navigate a

partner’s incarceration by modeling both the full set of possible relationship transitions and the

role incarceration plays in shaping the outcomes associated with these decisions.

BACKGROUND

Reflecting concerns about the collateral consequences of incarceration and family instability

more broadly, relationship dissolution among families experiencing paternal incarceration is

often framed as a negative outcome. For currently and recently incarcerated men, this percep-

tion is often accurate. Incarcerated and recently released men rely on family as a key source of

economic and emotional support (Braman, 2004; Comfort, 2008,2016; Visher & Travis, 2003;

Western & Wildeman, 2009). Indeed, maintaining relationships with romantic partners has

been linked to higher quality of life for inmates (Comfort, 2008), stronger ties between incarcer-

ated fathers and children (Geller, 2013), and lower risk of recidivism (Sampson et al., 2006;

Visher & Travis, 2003). Much of the research on incarceration related relationship dissolution

has thus been focused on the harm of dissolution and strategies to prevent this outcome.

The story is somewhat more complicated for the partners of incarcerated men, for whom

the benefits of remaining together are mixed and the drawbacks of maintaining a relationship

in the shadow of the criminal justice system are substantial. Women in relationships with pris-

oners must conform their lives to the rules and regulations of the facility holding their partner

(Comfort, 2008) and provide their partner with emotional and economic support during a time

when their own resources are strained (Braman, 2004; Hagan & Dinovitzer, 1999). A growing

body of research indicates that paternal incarceration may take the greatest toll on couples with

stronger bonds of coresidence or shared children before the jail or prison spell (Turney, 2014;

Turney & Wildeman, 2013). The family resilience perspective provides a useful framework for

considering the role of relationship dissolution and repartnering as strategies for successfully

1192 FAMILY RELATIONS