Limitations of the study

The researcher encountered a delay in gaining approval for the research study to be conducted in the Correctional Facilities of the Department of Correctional Services. This is understandable, as inmates are entitled to their constitutional rights and the Department of Correctional Services is obligated to ensure that the research study is ethical and credible. The process to gain approval was, therefore, challenging because of the delays. In addition, a sample of twenty participants was chosen for this research study, but due to strict criteria, the sample was restricted to only fourteen participants. With the focus groups discussions, fourteen partners and their adolescent children were supposed to form part of the study, but some of the partners could not be allocated and others declined due to personal reasons.

6.9. Conclusion

The findings of this study concur with a recent report by Sisonke Gender Justice on the state of fathers in Africa, which emphasizes that fathers must be involved as care-givers. The

conclusion reached is that children are more likely to thrive with multiple, nurturing caregivers, regardless of their sex, and not because fathers do uniquely ‘male’ things.

The participants in this study understood their biological role as fathers, yet experienced many challenges in fulfilling the range of obligations that accompanied this role. It is evident that fathers have an essential care-giving and developmental role as care-givers, similar to that of the mother or significant carer. This role demands emotional, as well as, biological impact, which affects the maturity of both their children and themselves as fathers, to undergo the changes that transpire in accepting their responsibilities and obligations. The findings of this study, however, show that the participants held a simplistic notion of their role as, and the changing influences of, an effective care-giver. The participants in this study all confirmed that the fathers may not have fully understood their emotional, psychological and intellectual contribution to the development and care of their children.

The findings of this study indicated that the fathers abdicated many of the obligations, attached to their role, to their partners and significant carers involved with their children, during their physical absence through incarceration. The consequences of this abdication also showed the cyclical effect of being emotionally absent and uninvolved with their children, which resulted in diverse challenges experienced by their adolescent children.

The findings also showed that the fathers engaged in criminogenic aspects during their incarceration. This further aggravated issues, such as, role modelling and providing appropriate guidance or support to both the children and those tasked with the care-giving and nurturance of the children. The absence of a father figure, or biological father, in the families of origin, also presented as a key finding in this study. The deficits in their masculine identity appear to have played a significant influence in the challenges that the incarcerated participant experienced. It was also apparent that the challenges experienced in construction of their masculinity, were linked to their own earlier experiences, prior to incarceration.

Incarceration created a further barrier in fulfilling their obligations. The lifestyle choices, which included, substance abuse and gang associations, further contributed to the lack of adopting an appropriate masculine identity as fathers. They struggled to engage with their masculine identities, as they were immersed in the gang subculture, while incarcerated. From

the responses given by the participants, managing themselves during incarceration superseded any commitments to positively influence their children.

Partners were faced with economic demands, yet needed to also undertake the financial needs of the biological father. The study shows that these demands forced the partner to seek financial support from the extended family. Partners reiterated the humiliation this factor caused and referred to the stigma this created. This stigma was also identified by the adolescents, who participated in this study. Partners, care-givers and the adolescents confirmed that, during early childhood, there was ignorance about having a father incarcerated. As children grew older, they were subjected to teasing by peers.

The findings of the study showed that, although some of the adolescents could be supported when teased about having an incarcerated father; it was his absence that caused emotional distress. The subsequent lack of involvement and contribution in important life-events was debilitating and detrimental to their coping abilities. The sudden separation between father and adolescent child was a difficult and a serious experience; this deprivation contributed to a sense of loss and abandonment. The extra mural activities and sharing of personal achievements were the most challenging markers identified due to the separation.

In conclusion, the findings of this study emphasized the importance of joint decision-making, care-giving and parenting of children in order to enhance their development and growth. This study also shows that when the father is incarcerated, specific challenges are experienced by himself, his children, as well as, the partners. The findings further suggest that the conditions in the detention centre, as well as, the activities that the biological father engages in (e.g. a deviant subculture, like gangs) often supersede any obligations towards the immediate family. It is evident that more research is required to further explore the impact of those conditions in prisons and the impact it has on the extended family network of the incarcerated individual.