The program is designed to be facilitated by trained peer leaders in twelve weekly sessions in a small group format. The program can be adapted to a shorter time span such as twice a week for county institutions. Accentuating the psycho-social development of both father and child Meeting the psychological and physiological challenges of being an incarcerated father Increasing and contributing to our knowledge base concerning fatherhood Essential to the success of the program was recognizing that many of the inmates were raised by their mothers or grandmothers.
Absent fathers are pervasive in their social histories.
Without a father figure to emulate, basic fathering skills such as self-discipline, nurturing and consistency are foreign concepts for most men in prison. Therefore the challenge was to construct an effective curriculum that met the needs of a male populated state institution. To address this challenge, a peer leadership team was recruited and began an eighteen month process of developing the curriculum that would meet the unique needs of incarcerated fathers. Since the peer leadership is comprised of fellow inmates who experience the same feelings of guilt, anger and helplessness, their participation in curriculum development was essential. In addition to collaborating on the curriculum development, the peer leaders facilitate the small groups, thereby maximizing the impact of the issues being discussed.