Parenthood and family in the opinions of adult offenders: qualitative study

ABSTRACT The main purpose of this article is to analyze the results of a survey carried out in 2019 among a group of men serving prison sentences. The main research question was how prisoners see themselves as fathers and how they relate it to their own childhood experience. Additionally, the study draws attention to the possibility of empowering imprisoned fathers, as the key factor in bringing them back to society. The methodological approach was qualitative, interviews and observations were used at the same time. Adopting the methodology of grounded theory, the procedures in data coding and analysis were based on the method of constant comparison. The results indicate that it might be very important to address parenting behavior as well as cognitive distortions and main beliefs in fathers who will raise their children after incarceration. In conclusion, this strategy could prevent the families and also the society from developing behavioral problems. The above findings have confirmed John Bowlby’s concept of ties and Glenn David Walters’s theory of criminal thinking and lifestyle.