Masculinity, fatherhood and prison: what do men say?

Abstract

Given the invisibility of masculinity and the recognition of the need to address fatherhood in all social contexts, the objective of this article is to analyse the narratives of eight men deprived of their liberty regarding fatherhood. To this end, we sought to discuss the reproduction of a hegemonic masculinity based on strength and the suppression of emotions, and fatherhood as an attribute of heterosexual masculinity, articulating the experience of deprivation of liberty. The interviewees’ relationships with their own fathers were marked by violence and physical and emotional distance. Considering that the fatherhood experienced by men ends up being a starting point for them to build their experiences as fathers, since fatherhood also has a transgenerational aspect, we understand that thinking about the relationships that imprisoned men had with their own fathers helps to reflect on the importance of building more positive and affective models of fatherhood and masculinity that assume parenting as an essential part of their identity and not as a secondary responsibility.