Introduction. The subject of this study is a qualitative analysis of the contacts of fathers, deprived of their liberty, with their minor children, and the factors that determine the nature of these contacts. The article focuses on the description of contacts and the identification of factors influencing them from the perspective of men serving a sentence of deprivation of liberty and the officials w ho organise the execution of the sentence. Aim. The purpose of the article is to provide a qualitative description of the methods of exercising the right to contact with minor children by fathers serving a prison sentence in a closed-type penitentiary for first-time offenders. Methods and materials. Data was collected through in-depth interviews conducted with both fathers deprived of their liberty and with prison service officers (psychologists and educators, and protection department staff who served in the penitentiary units where the fathers served their sentences). Results. The interviews conducted allowed for the identification of several groups of fathers who use the right to contact with minor children in diverse ways, and the factors that influence the implementation of contacts in different ways were indicated. From the interviews with Prison Service officers, two different attitudes of fathers towards contacts with children were identified (indicating an instrumentally marked contact and a contact caused by a genuine need). The analysis of interviews with men deprived of liberty allowed for the identification of four attitudes that were selected on the basis of fathers’ contacts with children before and after imprisonment.