This article explores the impact of relational skills and commitment on fidelity in romantic relationships among incarcerated individuals in the United States. The study addresses unique challenges such as altered communication dynamics, an increased likelihood of infidelity and conflict, and shifts in household responsibilities. Data from the Multisite Family Study of Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering were used to employ Structural Equation Modeling to analyze the influence of relational skills and commitment on fidelity. Findings suggest that relational skills and commitment are significant predictors of fidelity in romantic relationships. The study emphasizes the importance of effective communication and conflict resolution skills, particularly while incarcerated. This article discusses the broader social and institutional contexts impacting these relationships, including the stigma of incarceration and the challenges of maintaining familial connections during imprisonment. This article underscores the role of relational skills and commitment in maintaining fidelity in incarcerated relationships, suggesting avenues for clinical intervention and future research.
BoenC. E. (2020). Criminal justice contacts and psychophysiological functioning in early adulthood: Health inequality in the carceral state. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 61(3), 290–306. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146520936208
2.
BoppreB.NoviskyM. A. (2023). It makes him feel even farther away”: Disruptions in communication among families impacted by incarceration during the COVID-19 pandemic. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 50(12), 1827–1851. https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548231206535
3.
BrunsA. (2019). The third shift: Multiple job holding and the incarceration of women's partners. Social Science Research, 80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2018.12.024
4.
BrunsA. (2020). Partner incarceration and financial support from Kin. Journal of Family Issues, 41(11), 2112–2135. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513x20910168
5.
CarsonE. A. (2021). Prisoners in 2020 - Statistical tables (NCJ 302776). Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2020-statistical-tables
6.
CheliotisL. K.McKayT. (2022). Uneasy partnerships: Prisoner re-entry, family problems and state coercion in the era of neoliberalism. Punishment & Society, 24(4), 692–714. https://doi.org/10.1177/14624745211006181
7.
ComfortM.MckayT.LandwehrJ.KennedyE.LindquistC.BirA. (2016). The costs of incarceration for families of prisoners. International Review of the Red Cross, 98(903), 783–798. https://doi.org/2443/10.1017/S1816383117000704
8.
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. https://doi.org/10.1037/cfp0000057
9.
De ClaireK.DixonL.LarkinM. (2020). How prisoners and their partners experience the maintenance of their relationship during a prison sentence. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 30, 293–306. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2445
10.
DuranteK. A.Phillips MeertinsJ. R.TadrosE. (2024). Institutional relational maintenance barriers and perceptions of relationship quality among women with incarcerated partners. Crime & Delinquency, 70(3), 788–811. https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287221113304
11.
DuranteK. A.TadrosE.BraxtonC.BarbiniM. (2023). Supportive communication skills as a protective factor among couples experiencing incarceration. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 50(11), 1643–1660. https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548231195036
12.
EgeciİGencozT. (2006). Factors associated with relationship satisfaction: Importance of communication skills. Contemporary Family Therapy, 28, 383–391. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-006-9010-2
13.
FahmyC.WallaceD. (2019). The influence of familial social support on physical health during reentry. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 46(12), 1738–1756. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854819870268
14.
FolkJ. B.StuewigJ.MashekD.TangneyJ. P.GrossmannJ. (2019). Behind bars but connected to family: Evidence for the benefits of family contact during incarceration. Journal of Family Psychology, 33(4), 453–464. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000520.supp
15.
GottmanJ. M. (1994). What predicts divorce? The relationship between marital processes and marital outcomes. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
16.
HarmanJ. J.SmithV. E.EganL. C. (2007). The impact of incarceration on intimate relationships. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 34(6), 794–815. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854807299543
17.
HaskinsA. R.JacobsenW. C.MittlemanJ. (2023). Optimism and obstacles: Racialized constraints in college attitudes and expectations among teens of the prison boom. Sociology of Education, 96(3), 211-233. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380407231167412
18.
McKayT. (2024). Toward a social ecology of Johnson’s types: Exploring pathways to situational couple violence and coercive controlling violence among returning prisoners. Journal of Family Violence, 39(1), 77–90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-022-00444-z
19.
McKayT.LindquistC.SteffeyD.FeinbergR.LandwehrJ.BirA. (2018). Family life before and during incarceration. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 57(2), 96–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2018.1441209
20.
MowenT. J.VisherC. A. (2016). Changing the ties that bind: How incarceration impacts family relationships. Criminology & Public Policy, 15(2), 503–528. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12207
21.
MuentnerL. (2022). Churning through the system: implications of fathers’ reentry and recidivism after prison for children’s well-being. Crime & Delinquency, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287221087956
22.
SugieN.TurneyK. (2017). Beyond incarceration: criminal justice contact and mental health. American Sociological Review, 82. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122417713188
23.
TadrosE.AnsellA. (2022). Romantic attachment, childhood stability, depression, and PTSD in couples with an incarcerated partner. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 67(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.14976
24.
TadrosE.DuranteK. A. (2022). Coparenting, negative educational outcomes, and familial instability in justice-involved families. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 66(2), 267–287. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X211013740
25.
TadrosE.DuranteK. A.McKayT.BarbiniM.HollieB. (2022a). Mental health, perceived consensus of coparenting, and physical health among incarcerated fathers and their non-incarcerated, romantic partners. Families, Systems, & Health, 40(2), 210–224. https://doi.org/10.1037/fsh0000671
26.
TadrosE.DuranteK.MorganA. A.HutchersonR. (2022b). An actor-partner interdependence model analysis of family support and depression among coparenting couples with an incarcerated partner. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 61(7), 390–410. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2022.2116521
27.
TadrosE.DurtschiJ.MulletN. (2023). Trajectories of incarcerated coparenting: examining differences across racial and ethnic groups. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12636
28.
TadrosE.FanningK.JensenS.Poehlmann-TynanJ. (2021). Coparenting and mental health in families with jailed parents. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(16), 8705. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168705
29.
TadrosE.GregorashA. M. (2022). Couple connectedness in corrections: Attachment, childhood parental stability, and dyadic adjustment in romantic relationships with an incarcerated partner. Crime & Delinquency. https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287221134048
30.
TadrosE.PresleyS.GomezE. (2022c). “Not for the weak”: The lived experience of women in romantic relationships with incarcerated individuals. Crime & Delinquency, 68(12), 2274–2297. https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287221077657
31.
TadrosE.VlachA. (2022). Conflictual couples: The impact of dyadic adjustment and depressive symptoms on conflict in incarcerated couples. Journal of Family Trauma, Child Custody, and Child Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/26904586.2022.2041525
32.
TurneyK. (2015). Hopelessly devoted? Relationship quality during and after incarceration. Journal of Marriage and Family, 77, 480–495. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12174
33.
TurneyK.MalaeK.ChristensenM.Halpern-MeekinS. (2023). “Even though we're married, I'm single”: The meaning of jail incarceration in romantic relationships. Criminology; An interdisciplinary Journal. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12349
34.
WallaceD.LarsonM.SomersL.PadillaK. E.MaysR. (2020). Recidivism and relationships: Examining the role of relationships, transitions, and relationship quality in reincarceration. Journal of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology, 6, 321–352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40865-020-00144-6
WildemanC.WangE. A. (2017). Mass incarceration, public health, and widening inequality in the USA. Lancet (London, England), 389(10077), 1464–1474. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30259-3
