“I’m the best dad ever, apart from being here”: An evaluation of the nurturing programme parenting intervention for fathers in a UK prison

Parental imprisonment currently effects around 312,000 children in England and Wales, and is an adverse childhood experience associated with poorer outcomes in education and health. Parenting programmes are known to positively impact parent and child outcomes for families, however, the evidence on the impact of these within prisons is variable. This research reports on an evaluation of the Nurturing Programme for incarcerated fathers on a Family Intervention Unit in a Male UK prison. The Nurturing Programme is a 10-session parenting programme which aims to help parents and children live emotionally healthy lives, focusing on four main constructs: self-awareness, appropriate expectations, empathy, and positive discipline. The course was delivered over a five-week period (two sessions per week) for up to 12 men per course. The evaluation found that the programme had significant positive impact on the wellbeing of the fathers with strengthened family relationships and positive changes for children and partners in the home reported. Participants reported several positive outcomes from the programme including a statistically significant increase in self-reported wellbeing on the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale. Future evaluation of The Nurturing Programme should continue using the following additional measures: 1) capturing quantitative changes in parenting style and skills; 2) measuring outcomes and perceptions of the programme for children and partners of fathers in prison; and 3) capturing longer term outcomes for fathers particularly following release from prison. These outcomes would make a valuable contribution to the sparse evidence on the effectiveness of parenting interventions in UK prisons.