Abstract
Aboriginal women are one of the fastest-growing subgroups among the Australian incarcerated population. Their incarceration affects increasing numbers of children, families, and communities. Few studies have examined the role of fathers when mothers are incarcerated. Using 49 in-depth interviews with Aboriginal mothers in Western Australian prisons, we explore the types of child and family support fathers provide based on the incarcerated mother’s perspective. Four themes were identified: (1) diverse support and involvement by fathers; (2) absence of father’s support due to death or incarceration; (3) parental cooperation and communication; and (4) supports and challenges to maintaining family networks. Overall, fathers can play important child and family support roles during a mother’s incarceration and contribute to breaking intergenerational cycles of trauma which are exacerbated by incarceration. Measures to ensure Aboriginal traditional family networks are maintained in the face of mass incarceration and redressing the over-criminalisation of Aboriginal women are needed.
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
12-1-2025
Volume
21
Issue
4
Publication Title
AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples
Publisher
Sage
School
Kurongkurl Katitjin
Funders
National Health and Medical Research Council
Grant Number
NHMRC Number : 630653
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
First Page
767
Last Page
776
Comments
Miu, B., Simpson, P. L., Butler, T., Wilson, M., Kynuna, D., Shaw, R., & Jones, J. (2025). Exploring fathers’ child and family support during Aboriginal mothers’ incarceration. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 21(4), 767–776. https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801251374128