Families and Imprisonment Research Study, 2018-2019

The Families and Imprisonment Research Study (FAIR) comprises the third wave of data collection from a prospective longitudinal mixed methods study of families who experienced paternal imprisonment 6-8 years previously (at the first wave of data collection). Interviews, including standardised measures, were held with 32 fathers, 36 mothers and 42 children from 41 families, to capture post-release experiences and outcomes. Topics covered included accommodation; employment/education/training; social relationships; family life; child adjustment; health; leisure; community involvement; criminal activity; coping; support; effects of imprisonment and goals/hopes for the future. Data are included for 16 fathers and 27 mothers who consented to data sharing. Interview data from children are not included, however parental reports on 71 children are available in the parents' data files. Consent: For the parents and children aged over 18, consent was sought verbally and confirmed by signing a written consent form. Consent could be given for any or all of the following: taking part in the study; being audio recorded and sharing data via UKDS. For the children aged under 18, parental consent was sought initially from the primary caregiver and confirmed via their own consent form. The children themselves were then asked for consent to take part (and/or be audio recorded) and signed or stamped their own consent form. Age-appropriate language and documentation were used for different age groups (4-7; 8-11 and 12-17). Data Entry: Data were entered into SPSS by four members of the research team. Quantitative data consist of participant responses from a pre-defined list of questions. Qualitative data consist of notes made by the interviewer from participant responses to open-ended questions. Following initial data entry, the data were cleaned by two members of the research team who resolved coding inconsistencies, identified and amended gaps/errors and cross-checked each other's work. Anonymisation: Each participant has a unique ID number that was used in replacement of their name in all documentation and data files except the database used to manage participant details and the consent forms, which contained both unique ID numbers and names/signatures. In the qualitative responses within the SPSS files, if participants referred to another research participant (e.g. a mother referring to her child), this was substituted with the respective participant’s own unique ID number. This helped to keep track of family relationships. If participants referred to an individual not in the study, the individual’s name was substituted for their relationship to the participant (e.g. [brother], [friend]). Due to the sensitivity of the research topic, locations were also anonymised. Current places of imprisonment or residence were substituted with [current prison] and [current location] respectively. Previous places of imprisonment/residence were substituted in chronological order (e.g. [previouslocation1], [previous location2]. Data were not originally entered in an anonymised form for analytical reasons. Anonymisation of the data files was first undertaken by a research assistant and then cross-checked by senior members of the research team.The proposed research investigated processes of resilience in families who experienced the imprisonment of the father. Building on a unique data set from an earlier longitudinal study which gathered information from prisoners, their (ex)partners and children during and after imprisonment, this study examined individual and family-wide coping processes and experiences of social (re)integration approximately six years after the father's release from prison. In contrast to much existing research, the study put particular emphasis on protective functions of family relationships and support networks in the face of multiple risks to well-being (e.g. criminal behaviour, health problems, alcohol and drug misuse, school or employment problems, and social disintegration). The data have been used in part to further develop a family-oriented process model of resilience that can inform social policy and practice.</p