Prisons of Debt: The Afterlives of Incarcerated Fathers

Prisons of Debt is a sociological study that explores the experiences of fathers cycling through the criminal justice and child support systems, revealing how these systems work together to create entanglements of disadvantage. It argues that the criminalization of child support undermines familial relationships and can lead to bitter, unreliable, and cyclical fathers.

Format: Hardback
Length: 376 pages
Publication date: 10 May 2022
Publisher: University of California Press

In a groundbreaking exploration, sociologist Lynne Haney embarks on a journey across the nation, delving into state institutions to uncover the harrowing experiences of millions of fathers caught in a relentless cycle of punishment and debt. Through her pioneering study, Prisons of Debt emerges as the first of its kind, shedding light on the intricate web of systems that perpetuate these hardships. Rather than simply adding to men's burdens, these systems create feedback loops of disadvantage, entangling fathers in a web of complexities. The prison-child support pipeline operates in both directions, exacerbating parents' debt and criminal justice involvement.

Through poignant accounts of men striving to be fathers from the confines of prison walls and the weight of overwhelming support debt, Prisons of Debt unveils the devastating consequences of the criminalization of child support. Haney compellingly argues that these state systems have the potential to create the very parents they fear and loathe: bitter, unreliable, and perpetually trapped in a cycle of punishment.

Drawing from a meticulous observation of 1,200 child support cases and in-depth interviews with 145 indebted fathers in New York, California, and Florida, Prisons of Debt provides a meticulously documented analysis of the practices and realities faced by fathers ensnared in these systems. The result is a powerful testament to the injustices that plague poor men, often denying them their fundamental rights of citizenship and fatherhood.

Weight: 635g
Dimension: 229 x 152 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520297258