Fatherhood and reoffending after release from prison: The importance of co-residing with a partner and children

• In Event: Family and Intergenerational Perspectives

Abstract

Although fatherhood is considered an important turning point in the process of desistance from crime, little is known about the link between fatherhood and reoffending among people released from prison. In this study, we compared registered reconviction rates of fathers and non-fathers (18 months after release) and examined the role of post-release residential status (six months after release) using data from a Dutch pre-trial cohort sample (N = 845, 43.2% fathers). Preliminary results suggest that fathers whose post-release residential status was characterised by the ‘family package’ (co-residing with a partner and children) were less likely to be reconvicted than non-fathers and fathers without the family package. Fathers’ residential status was further associated with factors that reflected reoffending risks, as fathers with the family package were older, had a higher age of onset, were less often convicted for a property crime, reported more self-control, reported less criminal attitudes, and more often had a job after release. Further, fathers with the family package after release were characterised by markers indicating more stable family characteristics before, during, and after imprisonment than fathers without the family package. Together, our study contributes to research on the link between fatherhood and offending after release from prison by demonstrating the need to view fathers’ larger family context (before, during, and after imprisonment) and reoffending risk factors in conjunction.

Authors

• Simon Venema, Addiction Mental Health Care Northern Netherlands / Hanze University of Applied Sciences / University of Groningen

• Anja Dirkzwager, NSCR

• Marieke Haan, University of Groningen

• Paul Nieuwbeerta, Leiden University

• Eric Blaauw, Hanze University of Applied Sciences / Addiction Mental Health Care Northern Netherlands

• René Veenstra, University of Groningen