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Arrested Contact

The Criminal Justice System, Race, and Father Engagement

West Virginia University, Morgantown

Heather M. Washington

The Ohio State University, Columbus

Becoming a father is a major benchmark in adulthood. Good parenting means being engaged, nurturing, and helpful, goals that are often shattered for fathers in contact with the criminal justice system. The relationship between this contact and fathering disproportionately affects the lives of unmarried fathers and non-Whites. The authors use Fragile Families survey data to explore fathers' engagement with their children. They extend research on crime and fathering by examining the effects of a range of contacts on the father—child relationship, and examining racial-ethnic differences in such contacts' effects on father engagement. They provide clear evidence that non-Whites are less engaged with their children on average, as are booked or incarcerated fathers. The negative effect of incarceration on engagement is worse for Blacks than Whites and Latinos, and the effect of being booked is worse for Blacks than Whites. The findings have implications for efforts to reintegrate fathers after incarceration.

Key Words: fatherhood • race • prison • fragile families

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