Case study: Fathers Together - researching support for young fathers in prison

Breaking new ground for the organisation, staff from the Clinical Research Network West Midlands recently worked on a study supporting young fathers who are serving time in prison.

An estimated 300,000 children and young people are impacted by imprisonment. Having a parent in prison is linked to increased antisocial behaviours and likelihood of being involved in the criminal justice system

The Fathers Together study aimed to assess the needs of an ethnically diverse group of young fathers across five prisons and co-develop a parenting programme. Its objectives were to:

1. Establish what proportion of young adults in prison are fathers and examine their family networks, current quality of contact, and experiences in prison
2. Explore the broad holistic needs of young fathers and families affected by imprisonment
3. Co-design a parenting programme for young fathers in prison 
4. Assess the uptake, retention, and acceptability of the parenting programme delivered in prison for young fathers
5. Assess how best to integrate parenting support within usual services for young fathers and their families

Jonathan Davies, a Research Nurse with the Network, and Lydia Ashton, a Clinical Research Practitioner, found themselves working in an entirely new setting, which created some logistical issues.  Jonathan said: “We were not allowed to take in any devices, so had to work on paper with little or no space to store the resulting documents.

“We had to work in a pair at all times and it was a much louder working environment than we are used to - orientation to working in the prison also took longer than we expected.”

The pair had to be constantly mindful of potential risks, never enter a cell and make sure they were able to speak to participants at appropriate times.

During their six days at the prison they interviewed 75 young men aged between 18-25 about their family network, experiences growing up in their family, education status, and what life is like while in prison including visitation from family and friends.

Lydia added: “We learnt a lot of lessons from this experience. For example,  only research which is specific to prisoners  can be carried out - not, for example, studies open to the general public.

“As a team, we are always looking to expand the types of environment where research can take place, so this was a valuable experience  for all involved.”

The study’s Principal Investigator Dr Anita Mehay said: “Fathers Together is an incredibly important study, recognising the impact of imprisonment on individuals, families and wider communities. Prisons should be considered a priority setting for health research within the NIHR. Such environments come with challenges and researchers must hold specific skills to conduct meaningful, ethical and authentic research. The CRN is an important network to support prison studies and we’re pleased to help them build on this work.”

Find out more on the study website and the CRN WM’s Prison Research Network site.

ENDS 

For further information contact: claireanne.hall@nihr.ac.uk