Fathering in a New Zealand Prison

Abstract

There is evidence to suggest that maintaining father-child contact while in prison is positive for both men and their children. In New Zealand there has been no recent research looking at how men father in prison. It is not sufficient to rely on overseas research, as New Zealand has a unique male carceral population with at least half of the prisoners being indigenous men. This study draws upon narrative interviews with 38 fathers confined in one of New Zealand's largest prisons. Each father also provided quantitative data on his level of contact with his children from prison. The narrative interviews allowed the collection of stories revealing how the men were fathered, how they fathered before prison and finally how they father in prison. The stories are analysed using Bourdieu's theory of practice which explains differences in fathering practice through the intersection of habitus, capital and field. An understanding of the fathers' masculine habitus is supplemented by Connell's theory of hegemonic masculinity. This theory helps to explain the construction of masculinities in different contexts, including how some men with marginalised masculinity displayed maternal-like caring behaviour towards their children. The prison field is designed to disrupt men's habitus, make them feel out of place and their lives disjointed. For most men in this project it achieved this aim. The fathers were stressed by trying to cope with both the insecurity and violence in the prison field, and their families outside prison. This led men to father in different ways depending on their individual habitus and its interaction with the prison field. Most men had some contact with at least one of their children. Some fathers phoned, wrote to and saw their children as much as possible; while others isolated themselves completely from their families. All the men in the project wanted more contact with their children. The practical implications which arise from the findings of this research centre around transforming the prison field into a space which supports rather than interrupts the father-child relationships. The responsibility to make these men's lives visible requires the dissemination of this knowledge to the wider community and policy makers.