Fatherhood, Substance Dependence, and Criminal Incarceration. An empirical investigation.

This research project focuses on the conditions and prerequisites for exercising the rights of parental care, protection, and communication by father-parents with their children under circumstances of criminal conviction and imprisonment. A second pillar of the project’s focus examines the conditions and means of exercising these parental rights in cases where the father-parents are substance users and simultaneously serving prison sentences during their incarceration.

Both these aspects of the research subject have been minimally studied, both theoretically and empirically, in our country. This gap in the literature reflects the absence of relevant regulations at both an institutional level and in the formulation and implementation of corresponding policies. To date, studies on the exercise of parental care in cases of incarceration have predominantly focused on imprisoned mothers. This emphasis on mothers is not unique to Greece; internationally, attention has been directed at the needs and challenges faced by imprisoned mothers in maintaining their connection and bond with their children.

This study aims to fill the gap in empirical research on the exercise of parental care and communication by imprisoned fathers, particularly those who are substance users. The issue is distinctive as it pertains to a specific group of incarcerated fathers who face dual stigmatization: the stigma of criminal conviction and the stigma of substance dependence. Both these conditions inherently act as deterrents and add further challenges to the fathers’ ability to exercise parental care and maintain communication with their children, especially in the absence of formal regulations on the matter, as is the case in Greece.