Radio Workshop

Like father, like daughter? (Transcript)

by Catherine Fenollosa

On a warm, spring afternoon. 21-year old Joseph Campbell stands in the doorway of a Bronx housing project. Baggy jeans and a red basketball jersey hang off his lanky frame. After a long day at work... collecting garbage along the highway and in the city's parks... he's stopped by his ex-girlfriend's house to pick up his two-year old daughter, Mahoganie.

(ambi... door opens)

The steel door of the apartment opens and Mahoganie runs out to greet her father. Her dark hair is neatly braided. She's wearing a bluejean overalls and a pair of tiny white nike sneakers with sparkles. Campbell scoops her up.

tape: you want candy from the store? pee pee. I want pee pee in my panties..... no no....

At times like this, Campbell is overwhelmed with the responsibilities of fatherhood. Mahoganie has recently been potty-trained but when Campbell takes her for an overnight, he wants her to wear diapers. Diapers and bottles are a big change for Campbell. He's finished a two year sentence for robbery and selling drugs. Now he's just one of the 17-hundred people coming out of prison every day... former inmates who are returning home to children.

(street ambi & crying & candy offers....)

As Campbell and Mahoganie walk down the street, she screams for her mother. Frustrated, Campbell tries to soothe her with promises of candy and chips.

ambi... talking, you're my baby...

What Campbell and his daughter don't realize is that their relationship is vital in determining both their futures. Statistics show that children with an incarcerated parent are six times more likely to end up in prison themselves than other kids. According to the National Commission on Children... they are also more likely to live in poverty, abuse drugs, drop out of school, and become pregnant as teenagers. But if Campbell continues to be a consistent part of Mahoganie's life, he also increases the odds that HE will stay out of trouble and not go back to prison. After jailtime and the birth of his daughter, his priorities are starting to change:

Tape: It wasn't no more all about me... partytime. Don't have no responsibilities. I could spend $100 today, make it back again tomorrow. I'm not going to buy sneakers when I can buy my daughter an outfit, take her to the movies.

Unlike many young, unwed fathers... Campbell immediately put his name on his daughter's birth certificate... says his ex-girlfriend Percilla:

Tape: And he said that he wanted her middle name to be honesty because we never had that in our relationship. And he wanted her last name to be Campbell, because he's her father.

Campbell was 17 when his daughter was born. Percilla... was 15. Even though they were young... Percilla says they knew they wouldn't be like a lot of other people they know... where the father disappears:

Tape: We're not going to be enemies. And we're not going to make her feel like my mother doesn't like my father and my father doesn't like my mother. So it makes no sense me keeping him away from his child. I had her just like he had her. he made her. Just because we not together, our relationship doesn't exist doesn't mean his relationship with his daughter doesn't exist so...

When Campbell got out of prison, he had trouble finding a job. His parole officer referred him to a job placement program in lower manhattan called the Center for Employment Opportunites. There he found a 30-dollar a day job picking up trash along the highway. He also enrolled in a fatherhood program run by Gilbert Rodriguez. Rodriguez says the six week program teaches the men how to make child support payments so they'll have a receipt in case they are taken to court. They also learn how to handle disagreements with their children's mothers. But most importantly, Rodriguez says the men need to become more than what he calls... "part time dads":

Tape: You can't just support your child, buy him sneakers... You can't say she's only calling you for pampers. She should be calling you for more. I have to help you see that she's not as bad as you think. What has she gone through since you were gone. What changed did she have to make while you were away. You're not the victim here, your child is.

Rodriguez says about half of the 700 men who've gone through the fatherhood program will develop or rekindle a relationship with their children. But it's unclear how many of those men can balance the stresses of finding a job, staying out of trouble and becoming a reliable and consistent part of their kids lives.

(ambi: at percilla's house.. elmo dolls)

It's around noon on a wednesday. Percilla is tidying up the small bedroom she shares with Mahoganie. A plastic dollshouse that's shaped into a bed dominates the room. When the phone rings... its Campbell wanting to know if he can stop by to see his daughter.

Tape: Hello.... (percilla on phone with campbell)

Tape: He's a very punctual person... a lot of her doctor's appointments, if I don't tell him about it, he'll call and wake me up. He helps me with that.

While Campbell does make sure that Mahoganie gets to the doctor's on time, he's also struggling with temptations from his old life. Walking near his daughter's house, he bumps into old friends... reminders of days of fast cash and parties. Carl Mazza is a Social Work professor at Lehman College... and teaches parenting classes in Sing-Sing prison. He says there's one small piece of advice he shares with men like Campbell:

Tape: when you feel tempted to do something illegal, think of your child. Men who are able to do that generally end up doing the right thing, becuase they don't want to hurt their children. It's only when you feel alienated and isolated and alone that no one cares about you, no one cares that I live or die. If I'm in jail or in the streets. :30

One afternoon, Campbell took Mahoganie to a neighborhood park... and a fight broke out between a group of teenagers. He quickly packed up his daughter's things. But the stresses of crime and poverty are already having an effect on Mahoganie's life. As she walked out of the park holding her father's hand, she spotted a little girl her age:

Tape: I want to beat her up. You want to beat her up, why? Cause she bad. No fight. No that's bad. if you beat her up, you bad.

Campbell says he doesn't want his daughter to grow up in the same neighborhoods he did. He wishes they could move down south... to some place safe... where he would be far away from the life that got into trouble. A place where Mahoganie could play:

Tape: what does foo foo sing.... singing together...

Campbell and his daughter are better off than most young people in their situation. Campbell visits her almost every day... and he's looking into cooking school so he can become a chef.

ambi: singing

But the odds are against them. High recidivism rates, a sluggish job market, and Campbell's criminal record are potential stumbling blocks. It's too early to tell if Campbell's relationship with his daughter will continue to keep him out of trouble and pave the way for a better future for Mahoganie.

Tape: At times it's fun, sometimes it's a struggle. I love her. When I'm around her, it's like I got no problems in the world, no matter what I'm going through.

For Columbia Radio News, I'm Catherine Fenollosa

tape: singing... trouble...