If I Were a Dad is an interactive 8-week intervention using brief video dramas derived from the lives of young men in custody to encourage positive and healthy relationships and fatherhood.

Young men in prison are a marginalised group at risk for health problems and socio-economic disadvantage. The If I Were a Dad programme aims to address a current gap in provision for these young men providing an early intervention targeting relationship and parenting knowledge and skills for future fatherhood. The aim of If I Were a Dad is to employ a supportive, interactive, fun and flexible approach to discuss a range of topics relevant to relationships and parenting with young men in custody. We use reflective and discursive techniques with young men to explore issues that affect their lives and may pose a threat to their well-being and that of their partners and children. The programme is designed to challenge and inform their knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy around relationships and future fatherhood and encourage attitude and behaviour change towards positive, consensual and healthy sex, relationships and parenting.