Despite an important and burgeoning literature correcting oversimplified portrayals of incarcerated men as “hypermasculine” and aggressive, research on men’s prison masculinities has not yet been sufficiently incorporated into prison treatment and therapy programs. In this article, we draw on in-depth interviews with 28 incarcerated men to explore the intergenerational transmission of masculinity in the family setting, highlighting how incarcerated men adapt, modify, and/or challenge the masculinity scripts they inherited from their fathers (or father figures) when reflecting on their own attitudes toward fatherhood. We use these insights to advocate for gender-responsive feminist family therapy that incorporates incarcerated men’s constructions of masculinity in efforts to restore and strengthen these men’s familial ties.
AdamsM.ColtraneS. (2005). Boys and men in families. In KimmelM.HearnJ.ConnellR. W. (Eds.), Handbook of studies on men and masculinities. SAGE Publications.
AndersonE. (1999). Code of the street: Decency, violence, and the moral life of the inner city. WW Norton & Company.
4.
BandyopadhyayM. (2006). Competing masculinities in a prison. Men and Masculinities, 9(2), 186–203
5.
BartlettT. S.ErikssonA. (2019). How fathers construct and perform masculinity in a liminal prison space. Punishment & Society, 21(3), 275–294.
6.
BlumerM. L. C.PapajA. K.ErolinK. S. (2013). Feminist family therapy for treating female survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 25(2), 65–79.
7.
BogradM. (1991). Feminist approaches for men in family therapy. Routledge.
8.
Butler-KisberL.PoldmaT. (2010). The power of visual approaches in qualitative inquiry: The use of collage making and concept mapping in experiential research. Journal of Research Practice, 6(2), M18.
9.
CelinskaK.FurrerS.ChengC. C. (2013). An outcome-based evaluation of functional family therapy for youth with behavioral problems. Journal of Juvenile Justice, 2(2), 23.
CharmazK. (2017). The power of constructivist grounded theory for critical inquiry. Qualitative Inquiry, 23(1), 34–45.
12.
ChoJ.TrentA. (2006). Validity in qualitative research revisited. Qualitative Research, 6(3), 319–340.
13.
ComfortM. (2007). Doing time together: Love and family in the shadow of the prison. University of Chicago Press.
14.
ConlinS. E. (2017). Feminist therapy: A brief integrative review of theory, empirical support, and call for new directions. Women’s Studies International Forum, Vol. 62, 78–82. Pergamon.
15.
ConnellR. W. (1998). Masculinities and globalization. Men and Masculinities, 1(1), 3–23.
16.
ConnellR. W.MesserschmidtJ. W. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender & Society, 19(6), 829–859.
17.
CoppJ. E.GiordanoP. C.LongmoreM. A.ManningW. D. (2020). Desistance from crime during the transition to adulthood: The influence of parents, peers, and shifts in identity. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 57(3), 294–332.
18.
CorneauG. (1991). Absent fathers, lost sons: The search for masculine identity. Shambhala Publications.
19.
CrenshawK. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43, 1241–1299.
20.
CreweB. (2011). Depth, weight, tightness: Revisiting the pains of imprisonment. Punishment & Society, 13(5), 509–529.
21.
CreweB.WarrJ.BennettP.SmithA. (2014). The emotional geography of prison life. Theoretical Criminology, 18(1), 56–74.
22.
CurtisA. (2018). Paternity and the paradigms of possibility: Comparing two fatherhood programs in American prisons. In New perspectives on prison masculinities (pp. 307–330). Palgrave Macmillan.
23.
CurtisA. (2019). Dangerous masculinity: Fatherhood, race, and security inside America’s prisons. Rutgers University Press.
24.
DanceL. J. (2001). Shadows, mentors, and surrogate fathers: Effective schooling as critical pedagogy for inner-city boys. Sociological Focus, 34(4), 399–415.
25.
DatchiC. C. (2017). Masculinities, fatherhood, and desistance from crime: Moderating and mediating processes involved in men’s criminal conduct. The Journal of Men’s Studies, 25(1), 44–69.
26.
DatchiC. C.BarrettiL. M.ThompsonC. M. (2016). Family services in adult detention centers: Systemic principles for prisoner reentry. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, 5(2), 89–104.
27.
DatchiC. C.SextonT. L. (2013). Can family therapy have an effect on adult criminal conduct? Initial evaluation of functional family therapy. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, 2(4), 278–293.
28.
de ViggianiN. (2012). Trying to be something you are not: Masculine performances within a prison setting. Men and Masculinities, 15(3), 271–291.
29.
DuffeyT.SomodyC. (2011). The role of relational-cultural theory in mental health counseling. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 33(3), 223–242.
30.
EllisÉ.BermúdezJ. M. (2020). Funhouse mirror reflections: Resisting internalized sexism in family therapy and building a women-affirming practice. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 33(3), 1–21.
31.
EndendijkJ. J.GroeneveldM. G.MesmanJ. (2018). The gendered family process model: An integrative framework of gender in the family. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 47(4), 877–904.
32.
EscuderoV.FriedlanderM. L.HeatheringtonL. (2011). Using the e-SOFTA for video training and research on alliance-related behavior. Psychotherapy, 48(2), 138–147.
33.
FournierA. K. (2016). Pen pals: An examination of human–animal interaction as an outlet for healthy masculinity in prison. In Men and their dogs (pp. 175–194). Springer, Cham.
34.
FranzénA. G. (2021). ‘Hypermasculinity’ in interaction: Affective practices, resistance and vulnerability in a Swedish youth prison. In: CoxAlexandraAbramsLaura S. (Eds.) The Palgrave international handbook of youth imprisonment (pp. 333–354). Palgrave Macmillan.
35.
HolsingerK. (2014). The feminist prison. In CullenF. T.JonsonC. L.StohrM. K. (Eds.), The American prison: Imagining a different future (pp. 87–110). SAGE Publications, Inc.
36.
IsraeliA. L.SantorD. A. (2000). Reviewing effective components of feminist therapy. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 13(3), 233–247.
37.
JewkesY. (2005). Men behind bars: “Doing” masculinity as an adaptation to imprisonment. Men and Masculinities, 8(1), 44–63.
38.
JohnsonR.RocheleauA. M.MartinA. B. (2016). Hard time: A fresh look at understanding and reforming the prison. John Wiley & Sons.
39.
KahnJ. S. (2010). Feminist therapy for men: Challenging assumptions and moving forward. Women & Therapy, 34(1–2), 59–76.
40.
KarpD. R. (2010). Unlocking men, unmasking masculinities: Doing men’s work in prison. The Journal of Men’s Studies, 18(1), 63–83.
41.
Knudson-MartinC.McDowellT.BermudezJ. M. (2019). From knowing to doing: Guidelines for socioculturally attuned family therapy. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 45(1), 47–60.
42.
KupersT. A. (2005). Toxic masculinity as a barrier to mental health treatment in prison. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 61(6), 713–724.
43.
LahmK. (2016). Official incidents of inmate-on-inmate misconduct at a women’s prison: Using importation and deprivation theories to compare perpetrators to victims. Criminal Justice Studies, 29(3), 214–231.
44.
LaubJ. H.SampsonR. J. (1993). Turning points in the life course: Why change matters to the study of crime. Criminology, 31(3), 301–325.
45.
LawsB.LieberE. (2020). ‘King, warrior, magician, lover’: Understanding expressions of care among male prisoners. European Journal of Criminology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370819896207
46.
LiuL.VisherC. A. (2021). Decomposition of the role of family in reentry: Family support, tension, gender, and reentry outcomes. Crime and Delinquency, 67, 970–996. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128720987195
47.
MassogliaM.RemsterB.KingR. D. (2011). Stigma or separation? Understanding the incarceration-divorce relationship. Social Forces, 90(1), 133–155.
48.
MaycockM.HuntK. (Eds.). (2018). New perspectives on prison masculinities. Springer.
49.
MesserschmidtJ. W. (1993). Masculinities and crime: Critique and reconceptualization of theory. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
50.
MesserschmidtJ. W. (2001). Masculinities, crime and prison. In: SaboDonKupersTerry A.LondonWillie (Eds.) Prison Masculinities, (pp. 67–72). Temple University Press.
51.
MesserschmidtJ. W. (2005). Men, masculinities, and crime. In KimmelM.HearnJ.ConnellR. W. (Eds.), Handbook of studies on men & masculinities (pp. 196–212). SAGE.
52.
MiedzianM. (1991). Boys will be boys: Breaking the link between masculinity and violence. Lantern Books.
53.
MowenT. J.VisherC. A. (2016). Changing the ties that bind: How incarceration impacts family relationships. Criminology & Public Policy, 15(2), 503–528.
54.
NewburnT.StankoE. A. (2013). Just boys doing business?: Men, masculinities and crime. Routledge.
55.
PembertonJ. V.LoebT. B. (2020). Impact of sexual and interpersonal violence and trauma on women: Trauma-informed practice and feminist theory. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 32(1–2), 115–131. https://doi.org/10.1080/08952833.2020.1793564
56.
PettitB.LyonsC. J. (2009). Incarceration and the legitimate labor market: Examining age-graded effects on employment and wages. Law & Society Review, 43(4), 725–756.
57.
Pettus-DavisC.RennT.LacasseJ. R.MotleyR. (2019). Proposing a population-specific intervention approach to treat trauma among men during and after incarceration. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 20(3), 379–393.
PusateriC. G.HeadleyJ. A. (2015). Feminist therapy. In : NeukrugEdward S. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of theory in counseling and psychotherapy (pp. 414–419). SAGE Publications.
60.
RicciardelliR.MaierK.Hannah-MoffatK. (2015). Strategic masculinities: Vulnerabilities, risk and the production of prison masculinities. Theoretical Criminology, 19(4), 491–513.
61.
RiosV. M. (2009). The consequences of the criminal justice pipeline on black and Latino masculinity. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 623(1), 150–162.
62.
RobertsA.OnwumereJ.ForresterA.HuddyV.ByrneM.CampbellC.JarrettM.PhillipP.ValmaggiaL. (2017). Family intervention in a prison environment: A systematic literature review. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 27, 326–340.
63.
RogersN. (1995). A decade of midlife transitions. PCCS Books.
64.
SaboD. F.KupersT. A.LondonW. J. (Eds.). (2001). Prison masculinities. Temple University Press.
65.
SchlosserJ. A. (2008). Issues in interviewing inmates: Navigating the methodological landmines of prison research. Qualitative inquiry, 14(8), 1500–1525.
66.
SampsonR. J.LaubJ. H. (1995). Crime in the making: Pathways and turning points through life. Harvard University Press.
67.
SampsonR. J.LaubJ. H. (2016). Turning points and the future of life-course criminology: Reflections on the 1986 criminal careers report. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 53(3), 321–335.
68.
SandbergS.AgoffC.FondevilaG. (2020). Stories of the “good father”: The role of fatherhood among incarcerated men in Mexico. Punishment & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/1462474520969822
69.
SextonT. L. (2016). Incarceration as a family affair: Thinking beyond the individual. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, 5(2), 61–64.
70.
SloanJ. (2018). Saying the unsayable: Foregrounding men in the prison system. In: MaycockMatthewHuntKate (Eds.), New perspectives on prison masculinities (pp. 123–144). Palgrave Macmillan.
71.
SykesG. M. (1958). The society of captives. Princeton University Press.
72.
TadrosE. (2021). The Tadros theory of change with incarcerated populations. American Journal of Family Therapy. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/01926187.2021.1929560
73.
TadrosE.FinneyN. (2018). Structural family therapy with incarcerated families. Family Journal, 26, 253–261.
74.
TadrosE.FyeJ.RayA. (2020). The lived experience of sisters with an incarcerated brother: A phenomenological study. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 64(4), 335–354.
75.
TadrosE.FyeJ. M.McCroneC. L.FinneyN. (2019). Incorporating multicultural couple and family therapy into incarcerated settings. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 63(4), 641–658.
76.
UgelvikT. (2014). Paternal pains of imprisonment: Incarcerated fathers, ethnic minority masculinity and resistance narratives. Punishment & Society, 16(2), 152–168.
77.
UmamaheswarJ. (2018). Studying homeless and incarcerated persons: A comparative account of doing field research with hard-to-reach populations. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 19(3).
78.
UmamaheswarJ. (2020a). “When the hell are you going to grow up?”: A life-course account of hybrid masculinities among incarcerated men. Journal of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology, 6(1), 127–151.
79.
UmamaheswarJ. (2020b). “Changing the channel”: Hybrid masculinity in a men’s prison. Incarceration, 1(2), 1–19.
80.
UmamaheswarJ. (2021a). “On the Street, the Only Person You Gotta Bow Down to Is Yourself”: Masculinity, Homelessness, and Incarceration. Justice Quarterly, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2020.1869288
81.
UmamaheswarJ. (2021b). ‘Suppression on top of oppression’: A symbolic interactionist perspective on the affective experience of incarceration. The British Journal of Criminology, 61(4), 1107–1125.
82.
VaswaniN.CesaroniC.MaycockM. (2021). Incarcerated young men and boys: Trauma, masculinity and the need for trauma-informed, gender-sensitive correctional care. In: CoxAlexandraAbramsLaura S. (Eds.), The Palgrave international handbook of youth imprisonment (pp. 355–375). Palgrave Macmillan.
83.
WallaceD.FahmyC.CottonL.JimmonsC.McKayR.StofferS.SyedS. (2016). Examining the role of familial support during prison and after release on postincarceration mental health. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 60(1), 3–20.
84.
WarrJ. (2020). ‘Always gotta be two mans’: Lifers, risk, rehabilitation, and narrative labour. Punishment & Society, 22(1), 28–47.
85.
Washington State Institute for Public Policy. (2007). Evidence-based public policy options to reduce future prison construction, criminal justice costs, and crime rates (Oct. 2006). Federal Sentencing Reporter, 19(4), 275–290.
86.
WesterS. R.VogelD. L. (2002). Working with the masculine mystique: Male gender role conflict, counseling self-efficacy, and the training of male psychologists. Professional Psychology Research and Practice, 33(4), 370–376.
87.
WolffN.FruehB. C.ShiJ.GerardiD.FabrikantN.SchumannB. E. (2011). Trauma exposure and mental health characteristics of incarcerated females self-referred to specialty PTSD treatment. Psychiatric Services, 62(8), 954–958.
88.
WorellJ.RemerP. (2003). Feminist perspectives in therapy: Empowering diverse women (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons Inc.
89.
WrightE. M.Van VoorhisP.SalisburyE. J.BaumanA. (2012). Gender-responsive lessons learned and policy implications for women in prison: A review. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 39(12), 1612–1632.
