Holding On reveals the results of an unprecedented ten-year study of justice-involved families, rendering visible the lives of a group of American families whose experiences are too often lost in large-scale demographic research. Using new data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering—a groundbreaking study of almost two thousand families, incorporating a series of couples-based surveys and qualitative interviews over the course of three years—Holding On sheds rich new light on the parenting and intimate relationships of justice-involved men, challenging long-standing boundaries between research on incarceration and on the well-being of low-income families. Boldly proposing that the failure to recognize the centrality of incarcerated men’s roles as fathers and partners has helped to justify a system that removes them from their families and hides that system’s costs to parents, partners, and children, Holding On considers how research that breaks the false dichotomy between offender and parent, inmate and partner, and victim and perpetrator might help to inform a next generation of public policies that truly support vulnerable families.

""Holding On is a compelling read that will be useful particularly to policymakers and activists who need evidence toward prison reform and program funding allocations."" - Gender & Society

"Holding On is a hopeful and empathic book that packs significant policy-relevant analysis into a slim volume." - Men and Masculinities

""Holding On is a must-read for policymakers and prison administrators. It is accessible enough for use in undergraduate and graduate sociology, policy, and psychology courses. It is also an invaluable resource for academics interested in the complex ways that incarceration and reentry impact our nation’s families."" - Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books

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"Holding On: Family and Fatherhood During Incarceration and Reentry is a must-read for anyone interested in families, relationships, fatherhood, and the trying effects on each of incarceration. It is a seminal, deeply thoughtful, and methodical book that sets the stage for what is possible when the realms of criminological studies and family studies converge."