Studies the effects that jail time and parole have on the relationships between young fathers and their children, with research revealing how the prison structure and its programs help fathers stay in touch with sons and daughters.

This volume specifically examines current concerns about imprisoned fathers and highlights best practices with a group of children and parents who present significant vulnerabilities. It brings together contemporary works in this area, to share and consolidate knowledge, to encourage comparisons and collaborations across jurisdictions, and to stimulate debate, all with the aim of furthering knowledge and improving practice in this area. Although there is considerable focus on imprisoned mothers, there is limited knowledge or understanding of the needs, experiences, or effective responses to imprisoned fathers and their children, despite men making up the vast majority of the prison population. The ongoing and negative impact of parental incarceration on children is well documented, and includes emotional and behavioural consequences, marginalisation, and stigma, as well as financial and social stresses. However, understanding of these processes, and, importantly, what can assist children and families, is poor. This book seeks to add to the understanding of paternal imprisonment by providing an in-depth exploration of how the arrest, detention, and experiences of fathers during imprisonment can affect their ability to parent and meet the needs of their children. This book was originally published as a special issue of Child Care in Practice.

Maxwell sees himself as a Natural Born Player. He makes babies, but he is father to none of his children. Veronica thinks otherwise. She spends months tracking Maxwell down and corners him for the 3 years child support he owes her; but she wants more than the money. Veronica is determined that Maxwell is going to be a father to their son. Maxwell is overcome with guilt and shame, when Veronica reminds him of his 14 year old son that he abandoned. He shows concern, when she tells him that his son was running with a notorious gang in North London. A nightmare he has sends Maxwell looking for his son Raymond. In his dream he sees his son getting shot in the back of his head, by a rival gang member. He goes looking for, and finds Raymond. Raymond rejects Maxwell. Maxwell has the compulsion to wrench Raymond from the tight grip of the brutal “Pit Bull Posse” gang. He finds himself in grave danger and gets close to losing his life, when he is stabbed by “Mad Dog,” the leader of the gang. A second encounter with the gang leader brings Maxwell even closer to death, when “Mad Dog” shoots at him at close range and the gun jams. Maxwell’s past is fast catching up with He goes in search of his 12 year old daughter that he claims he had no knowledge of, when Veronica reminds him another girl who fell for his charm and ended up with a baby. Maxwell has another situation to deal with, when he finds his daughter and her mother. He is enraged, when he discovers that Tamara his daughter was being molested by her mother’s boyfriend. The boyfriend is also a woman beater who threatens and intimidates his woman. He threatens her with violence if she attempts to leave him. Maxwell faces off with the boyfriend in a confrontation, when he tells the bully he is taking his daughter and her mother with him. Maxwell finds himself in the Old Bailey Criminal Court, when he is charge with manslaughter. Will Maxwell lose his freedom? Will Maxwell be able to able to compensate his children for years he was absent from their lives? Will it be possible for him to give up his life as a Player to become a Family Man?

Fathers are critical to their children's growth and development. Research on the involvement of men with their children stresses the important role that fathers play from infancy to adolescence. Due to the ethnically diverse population of fathers in America, culture and context frames the nature of fathering and shapes expectations within a cultural milieu. The book offers a wide range of vantage points–social work, family studies, marriage and family therapy, counseling, sociology, psychology, gender studies, anthropology, cultural and ethnic studies, urban studies, and health. There are five primary parts within this book, each of which looks at numerous facets of fatherhood in the twenty-first century. Part I defines the concept of fatherhood and family composition, becoming a father, young fathers, single fathers, fathers and daughters, and examines the father-son relationship. Part II looks at nonresident fathers, homeless fathers, incarcerated fathers, and the never married fathers. Part III reviews biological fathers, stepfathers, male foster carers, fatherhood and adoption, and gay fathers. Part IV examines the cultural dimensions of fatherhood, including Latino, African American, and Native American. Part V explores the fatherhood service delivery system by engaging fathers in culturally competent services, measuring the father's involvement, and the initiatives to support fathering. The context, practice, and gaps in responsible fatherhood programs are discussed. This informative and sensitive book will be useful for researchers, students, and professionals in the field of social work, health, family counseling, and human services. Applicable in classrooms and treatment situations, Fatherhood in America bridges the gap between research and practice through chapters authored by some of the country's foremost fatherhood scholars and clinicians by offering fresh perspectives and keen insights borne out of field experience working with fathers.

Past studies have suggested that offenders desist from crime due to a range of factors, such as familial pressures, faith based interventions or financial incentives. To date, little has been written about the relationship between desistance and racialisation. This book seeks to bring much needed attention to this under-researched area of criminological inquiry. Martin Glynn builds on recent empirical research in the UK and the USA and uses Critical Race Theory as a framework for developing a fresh perspective about black men’s desistance. This book posits that the voices and collective narrative of black men offers a unique opportunity to refine current understandings of desistance. It also demonstrates how new insights can be gained by studying the ways in which elements of the desistance trajectory are racialised. This book will be of interest both to criminologists and sociologists engaged with race, racialisation, ethnicity, and criminal justice.

There's no experience quite as surreal or as horrifying as seeing your own mugshot flashed across the television screen during the evening news, all from the "comfort" of your very own jail cell. Yet, that's exactly what happened to South Carolina conservative talk radio personality and political activist, Josh Kimbrell, in October of 2014. Kimbrell, a public figure in the Palmetto State, was on the rise - campaigning with members of Congress, serving on numerous community boards of directors, and being appointed by the Governor to the board of a state agency... until the unthinkable happened. When a nearly four-year-long custody battle took a dark turn, Kimbrell found himself arrested by the Greenville City Police, placed in a jail cell, and forced to defend his honor, fight for his freedom, and battle to see his son again. Fatherhood on Trial is the personal account of a public person who had to fight a system stacked against him to be an active father to his own child. While Kimbrell's story is a highly public example, this horrifying drama plays out all too often in America, with children being caught in the crossfire. Too many parents are prosecuted when family court cases go criminal and children are deprived of one or more of their parents while the wreckage is sorted. This book is the personal story of a father's battle for his son and serves as a rallying cry for much-needed and long-past-due family law reform in America. Fatherhood on Trial is a cautionary tale for other families who may face similar circumstances and a call for reforms that can prevent such nightmares from happening to other parents and their children in the future.

When men act as parents they do so in diverse physical and social spaces imbued with symbolic meaning. They father in the military overseas, on the farm, in dilapidated inner cities, immersed in ethnic neighborhoods, navigating idealized places of leisure where families go, as stepfathers in spaces where physical dimensions and family meanings intersect, as nonresident fathers managing less than ideal conditions, rolling across the interstate as long-haul truckers, playing catch alongside the house, managing precious family-time in prison work-release programs, as participants in community fatherhood initiatives, etc. Until now, family scholars had not explicitly theorized and focused on how physical space shapes fathers' lives. A distinct volume of theoretical and empirical research, Situated Fathering addresses this oversight by proposing a new framework for studying how various contingencies of physical space, in conjunction with social/symbolic issues, affect men's identities as fathers and their involvement with children. Consistent with public interest in men's efforts to 'be there' as providers and caregivers, this book explores issues associated with the barriers and supports to involvement that are part of the physical and social environment. Written largely for family scholars and students, it emphasizes a future-oriented perspective by outlining directions for theoretically guided research in specific, often gendered fathering sites.