When fathers return home after prison, the natural thought would be visualizing an embracing moment with their children and the restart of a successful father-child relationship. However, this is not always the case for some fathers. Reuniting with their children can be complicated by unrealistic expectations and a lack of father-child contact while being locked-up. Father-child bonds can be hard during incarceration due to issues such as limited opportunities for father-child contact and the inability of families to transport children to facilities that maybe more than 100 miles away. The growing needs of Black fathers who are returning home from prison makes understanding how they reconnect to their children after being locked-up a timely issue. Understanding what builds strong father-child relationship after prison is important to helping fathers reconnect to their children
“I really wanted to rebuild my relationship with my daughter when I got out. I wanted to be her role model as I should be.”
–J. Jones, Sylacauga, Al