High rates of incarceration, coupled with high rates of fatherhood among men in prison, has motivated a far-reaching literature that examines the effects of paternal incarceration on family stability and child development. Although a growing body of evidence documents significant disadvantage...

Rising rates of incarceration since the 1970s, combined with high rates of fatherhood among men in jails and prisons, have led to an unprecedented number of children more than 1.7 million in 2007 affected by paternal imprisonment. The growing literature documenting challenges faced by families...

Although the salutatory effects of father involvement on child well-being are well established, whether similar benefits accrue to children’s mothers is unknown. The prevailing cultural ideal of involved fathering coupled with the growing complexity of mother-father relationship contexts...

Theories of family functioning suggest that childbearing with multiple partners may increase parenting stress due to changes in social and economic resources and the challenges associated with parenting across multiple households. These family processes may not be equally stressful for mothers...