August 16, 2025

Sustaining Father–Child Relationship Quality During Imprisonment: Estimating the Impact of In-Person Visits

Key Points

In-person visits increased the probability of fathers reporting a positive relationship by the 34-month follow-up, indicating a beneficial impact.
Fathers who attended visits reported a modest improvement in relationship quality with their children after 9 months, pointing to the significance of direct contact.
Using propensity score matching, a comparable group of fathers was selected to analyze outcomes, ensuring evidence integrity within the study's design.
These findings highlight the necessity of family-strengthening services in prisons, suggesting potential changes for correctional policies to support incarcerated parents.

Abstract

This article examines how contact visits between fathers in prison and their children affect fathers’ views of their relationship with their children. The sample of fathers derives from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering (MFS-IP). Propensity score matching is used to select a demographically comparable sample of fathers from the data set. Two of the three propensity score models provided positive and significant results. The study findings indicated that fathers participating in in-person visits with their focal child at the 9-month interview increased modestly the probability of fathers reporting a positive relationship with their focal child at the 34-month follow-up interview. This study provides insights for social workers, correctional personnel, and policymakers, indicating that family contact is essential to family-strengthening services and beneficial for incarcerated fathers and their children.

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