Adolescent offenders’ experiences of father involvement in a South African context

Abstract

Objective: The study's aim was to explore and describe adolescent offenders' experiences of their fathers' involvement before and during their own incarceration in a South African context.

Background: Research on father involvement is focused predominantly on adult offenders' experiences of father involvement without emphasis on adolescents' experiences regarding father involvement, including in a South African context.

Methods: A qualitative explorative-descriptive research design was employed. A nonprobability, purposive sampling technique was used, and the sample size was determined through data saturation. The sample included nine male adolescents between the ages of 17 and 19 years from a correctional center in Pretoria, South Africa. Semi structured individual interviews and drawings made by participants were used as the data collection methods and data were analyzed thematically.

Results: Two main themes with subthemes were identified: Experiences of father absence before and/or during incarceration and desires for and suggestions to improve father involvement.

Conclusion: The findings are primarily indicative of the general lack of father involvement and fatherly support experienced by participants.

Implications: The findings highlight the need for adolescent offenders to have access to counseling or therapy and intervention programs suitable for juvenile correctional centers focusing specifically on providing young incarcerated, male adolescents with paternal role models that can help foster a sense of ethical and moral guidance and provision of different forms of support. Father intervention programs including men's talks, motivational speaking, and psychoeducational programs to advise fathers on how to be more involved in their children's lives are recommended.