Fatherhood Arrested

Anne M. Nurse

Description

Crime and young fatherhood have generally been viewed as separate social problems. Increasingly, researchers are finding that these problems are closely related and highly concentrated in low-income communities. Fatherhood Arrested is an in-depth study of these issues and the difficulties of parenting while in prison and on parole.

By taking us inside the prison system, Nurse shows how its structure actively shapes an inmate's relationship with his children. For example, visitation is sometimes restricted to blood relatives and wives. Because relationships between unmarried men and the mothers of their children are often strained, some mothers are unwilling to allow their children to go to the prison with the inmate's family. Or the father may be allowed to receive visits from only one "girlfriend," which forces a man with multiple relationships, or with children by different women, to make impossible choices. Special attention is paid to the gendered nature of prison, its patriarchal and punitive structure, and its high-stress environment. The book then follows newly paroled men as they are released and return to their children.

The author spent four years doing research at the California Youth Authority, during which time she surveyed 258 paroled fathers. The group included young white, black, and Latino men, ages sixteen to twenty-five. She conducted in-depth interviews with men selected from this group, participated in forty parenting class sessions, and observed visiting hours at three different institutions. The data provide fascinating information about the characteristics of the men, their attitudes toward fatherhood, and the ways they are involved with their children. The diversity of the fathers allows for an analysis of racial and ethnic variation in their attitudes and involvement. The study concludes with a series of policy suggestions, especially important in light of the large number of fathers now living under the care and control of the juvenile justice system.

Sujets

• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Sociology
• Marriage
• Criminology
• Family

Informations

• Publié par: Vanderbilt University Press
• Date de parution: 30 juin 2002
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780826591548
• Langue: English

Extrait

Fatherhood Arrested Anne M. Nurse

Parenting from Within the Juvenile Justice System

Fatherhood Arrested

Fatherhood Arrested

Parenting from Within the Juvenile Justice System

Anne Nurse

Vanderbilt University Press Nashville

© 2002 Vanderbilt University Press All rights reserved First Edition 2002

This book is printed on acid-free paper. Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Nurse, Anne, 1968– Fatherhood arrested : parenting from within the juvenile justice system / Anne Nurse.— 1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8265-1404-9 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 0-8265-1405-7 (paper : alk. paper) 1. Juvenile delinquents—Rehabilitation—United States. 2. Juvenile parole—United States. 3. Teenage fathers— Rehabilitation-United States. 4. Absentee fathers— Rehabilitation—United States. 5.Parenting—Study and teaching— United States. 6. Children of prisoners—United States. 7. Father and child—United States. I. Title. HV9104 .N87 2002 362.82’95—dc21 2002001704

Part of chapter 2 appeared as an article entitled “The Structure of the Juvenile Prison: Constructing the Inmate Father” inYouth and Society32 (2001): 360–94. © 2001 by Sage Publications. It is reprinted with permission of Sage Publications.

Sections of chapters 3 and 4 are drawn from the article “Coming Home: The Transition from Incarcerated to Paroled Young Father,” which appeared inFamilies, Crime, and Criminal Justice: Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research,vol. 2, ed. Greer Litton Fox and Michael L. Benson (2000). It is reprinted with the permission of Elsevier Press.

To John

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Negotiating Relationships

165

155

Prison and Fatherhood:

Overlapping Social Problems

Fathering from Behind Bars

Coming Home

Acknowledgments

2

ix

36

Young Fatherhood, Incarceration, and Public Policy 129

Contents

4

3

5

157

103

72

1

1

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the paroled fathers who shared their lives with me. I know that many agreed to participate in this project be- cause they wanted to help other young men like themselves. I hope that this book does justice to their time and effort. I would also like to thank the parole agents and staff at the California Youth Author- ity. Their help made this project possible. Many thanks to the amaz- ing women who helped me conduct surveys: Gina, Leslie, Amina, Sol, Kathy, Barbara, and Patricia. On the days I was ready to give up, their good-natured willingness to drive endless hours, to hang around and wait for interviews in fast-food restaurants, and to lis- ten with empathy kept me going. A number of people helped with drafts of this book. Special thanks to Mary Jackman, Carole Joffe, Lawrence Cohen, James Cramer, Mary Ann Mason, and three anonymous reviewers for giv- ing generously of their time and wisdom. I appreciate Michael Ames at Vanderbilt for his belief in the book and for his constant reminders to write about people, not data. Thanks to Ann Whetzel and Matt Nelson for spending many hours checking the accuracy of the details and citations. Finally, my eternal gratitude to my