Crime and adolescent fatherhood are generally discussed as separate social problems, with little attention paid to the fact that they increasingly intersect. In this article, the author discusses the structure of the juvenile prison and its effect on the relationship between inmates and their children. Placing prison structure into a historical and social context, the author examines its effects on father/child relations. This includes an analysis of the gendered nature of the institution, its patriarchal/punitive structure, and its high-stress environment. For the analysis, the author draws from observations at three California youth prisons, survey data from 181 parolee-fathers, and in-depth interview data from a subset of 20 of the survey respondents.
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