Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Human Services

Advisor

Tracy Jackson

Abstract

Having a parent incarcerated can have a major effect on children. As it is difficult for the child, it is also difficult for fathers to be away from their children. African American males suffer from various issues revolving around not being present in their children's lives. African American males are one of the largest populations of men incarcerated, and that has a strain on their relationship with their children during and after their release from incarceration. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to gain a better understanding of the parenting role of African American males while incarcerated to help them become better parents upon their release. The participants were formerly incarcerated African American males with at least one daughter. The researcher applied a qualitative research design using John Bowlby’s stages of attachment theory. The research question for this study examined how incarceration impacts African American fathers' parenting experience with their daughters. Through purposive sampling, eight African American males from rural areas who had been released from prison between 5-15 years and had at least one daughter provided a detailed account of their lived experiences in semi-structured in-depth telephone interviews. Braun and Clark's data analysis method was used to identify the themes and patterns in the data. Findings included eight themes, examples include: being actively present and building a healthy attachment bond to establish father-daughter relationships. This study fills the existing literature gap and supports positive social change by encouraging and promoting services to increase awareness of parental incarceration of fathers.

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