More than Just Incarceration: Law Enforcement Contact and Black Fathers' Familial Relationships
Type
Racial inequality in law enforcement contact persists in the United States. Black men are disproportionately arrested and stopped by the police compared to White Americans. One collateral consequence of law enforcement contact for Black men is its effect on family life. In the current study, we examined the association between law enforcement contact and Black fathers' familial relationships. Using panel data, our results show, for fathers, both measures of law enforcement contact are associated with lower levels of relationship quality but not co-parenting. For mothers, only fathers who were previously incarcerated were associated with lower levels of relationship quality whereas both measures of law enforcement contact were associated with lower levels of co-parenting. We recommend policy efforts focusing on low-income families should also work in tandem with criminal justice policies to ensure optimum family and children's outcomes, especially among Black fathers.