Family Reunification

This chapter builds off the previous one, which explored issues encountered by romantic partners during the post-release period, by considering issues encountered by partners, whether still romantically involved or not, as they pertain to coparenting shared child(ren). The arguments and evidence previously presented which advocate for the involvement of MFTs to assist in the reassimilation process post-incarceration will be extrapolated upon to present arguments for the necessity of such involvement as it pertains to the roles that coparents play. Such issues encountered by coparents, which shall be explored, include trust in the recently released parent to serve as an adequate caregiver, disagreements that may arise over who is responsible for childcare, scenarios in which mothers may choose to withhold contact between child(ren) and father (pre- and post-release), as well as the inner struggle that incarcerated fathers experience both during and after the incarceration period to determine what roles they should play, and that they feel comfortable playing, in the lives of their children, with a focus on incarcerated fathers in particular. A case illustration will be presented which explores two coparents navigating the post-release period and through which the role MFTs might play in addressing aforementioned issues will be explored.