The current study investigates how visitation affects inmates’ social capital and whether it influences inmates’ perceptions of costs incurred by their family members and friends as a result of incarceration. We use data from a recent survey of male prisoners to examine different aspects of visitation, such as types of visitors and frequency of visitation. The findings suggest that prison visitation contributes to the maintenance of inmates’ social capital and could potentially shape their perceptions of the informal costs of reoffending. Regular visitation during incarceration may play a crucial role in successful reentry.
ApplegateB. K. (2001). Penal austerity: Perceived utility, desert, and public attitudes toward prison amenities. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 25, 253-268.
2.
ArdittiJ. A.Lambert-ShuteJ.JoestK. (2003). Saturday morning at the jail: Implications of incarceration for families and children. Family Relations, 52, 195-204.
BalesW. D.MearsD. P. (2008). Inmate social ties and the transition to society. Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, 45, 287-321.
5.
BarrickK.LattimoreP. K.VisherC. A. (2014). Reentering women the impact of social ties on long-term recidivism. The Prison Journal, 94, 279-304.
6.
BergM. T.HuebnerB. M. (2011). Reentry and the ties that bind: An examination of social ties, employment, and recidivism. Justice Quarterly, 28, 382-410.
CampS. D.GaesG. G. (2002). Growth and quality of US private prisons: Evidence from a national survey. Criminology & Public Policy, 1, 427-450.
9.
CarsonE. A.SabolW. J. (2012). Prisoners in 2011. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
10.
ChristianJ. (2005). Riding the bus: Barriers to prison visitation and family management strategies. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 21, 31-48.
11.
ChristianJ.MellowJ.ThomasS. (2006). Social and economic implications of family connections to prisoners. Journal of Criminal Justice, 34, 443-452.
12.
ClarkT. A. (2001). The relationship between inmate visitation and behavior: Implications for African American families. Journal of African American Men, 6(1), 43-58.
13.
CochranJ. C. (2012). The ties that bind or the ties that break: Examining the relationship between visitation and prisoner misconduct. Journal of Criminal Justice, 40, 433-440.
14.
CochranJ. C. (2013). Breaches in the wall: Imprisonment, social support, and recidivism. Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, 51, 200-229.
15.
CochranJ. C.MearsD. P. (2013). Social isolation and inmate behavior: A conceptual framework for theorizing prison visitation and guiding and assessing research. Journal of Criminal Justice, 41, 252-261.
16.
CochranJ. C.MearsD. P.BalesW. D.StewartE. A. (2014). Does inmate behavior affect post-release offending? Investigating the misconduct-recidivism relationship among youth and adults. Justice Quarterly, 31, 1044-1073.
17.
de MotteC.BaileyD.WardJ. (2012). How does prison visiting affect female offenders’ mental health? Implications for education and development. The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice, 7, 170-179.
18.
DuweG.ClarkV. (2013). Blessed be the social tie that binds: The effects of prison visitation on offender recidivism. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 24, 271-296.
19.
EdinK.NelsonT. J.ParanalR. (2001, May). Fatherhood and incarceration as potential turning points in the criminal careers of unskilled men. Paper presented at the conference “Effects of Incarceration on Children and Families,” Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
20.
FarringtonD. P.WestD. J. (1995). Effects of marriage, separation, and children on offending by adult males. In BlauZ. S. (Ed.), Current perspectives on aging and the life cycle (Vol. 4, pp. 249-281). Greenwich, CI: JAI Press Inc.
21.
FosterH.HaganJ. (2009). The mass incarceration of parents in America: Issues of race/ethnicity, collateral damage to children, and prisoner reentry. The Annuals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 623, 179-194.
22.
FoxK.ZambranaK.LaneJ. (2011). Getting in (and staying in) when everyone else wants to get out: 10 lessons learned from conducting research with inmates. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 22, 304-327.
23.
GiordanoP. C.CernkovichS. A.RudolphJ. L. (2002). Gender, Crime, and Desistance: Toward a theory of cognitive transformation. American Journal of Sociology, 107, 990-1064.
24.
GlazeL. E.MaruschakL. M. (2008). Parents in prison and their minor children (Special report). Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved from http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/pptmc.pdf
25.
GrasmickH. G.TittleC. R.BursikR. J.Jr.ArneklevB. J. (1993). Testing the core empirical implications of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime. Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, 30, 5-29.
26.
GrovesR. M. (2006). Nonresponse rates and nonresponse bias in household surveys. Public Opinion Quarterly, 70, 646-675.
27.
GrovesR. M.PeytchevaE. (2008). The impact of nonresponse rates on nonresponse bias. Public Opinion Quarterly, 72, 167-189.
28.
GustL. V. (2012). Can policy reduce the collateral damage caused by the criminal justice system? Strengthening social capital in families and communities. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 82, 174-180.
29.
HaganJ.DinovitzerR. (1999). Collateral consequences of imprisonment for children, communities, and prisoners. Crime and Justice, 26, 121-162.
30.
HartneyC. (2006). US rates of incarceration: A global perspective. Oakland, CA: National Council on Crime and Delinquency.
31.
HayC.MeldrumR. C.PiqueroA. R. (2013). Negative cases in the nexus between self control, social bonds, and delinquency. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 11, 3-25.
32.
HuebnerB. M. (2005). The effect of incarceration on marriage and work over the life course. Justice Quarterly, 22, 281-303.
33.
JiangS.Fisher-GiorlandoM.MoL. (2005). Social support and inmate rule violations: A multilevel analysis. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 30, 71-86.
34.
LatessaE. (2012). Why work is important, and how to improve the effectiveness of correctional reentry programs that target employment. Criminology & Public Policy, 11, 87-91.
35.
LaubJ. H.NaginD. S.SampsonR. J. (1998). Trajectories of change in criminal offending: Good marriages and the criminal desistance process. American Sociological Review, 63, 225-238.
36.
La VigneN. G.NaserR. L.BrooksL. E.CastroJ. L. (2005). Examining the effect of incarceration and in-prison family contact on prisoners’ family relationships. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 21, 314-335.
37.
LongshoreD.ChangE.HsiehS.MessinaN. (2004). Self-control and social bonds: A combined control perspective on deviance. Crime & Delinquency, 50, 542-564.
38.
LopooL. M.WesternB. (2005). Incarceration and the formation and stability of marital unions. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 721-734.
39.
McCorkleR. C.MietheT. D.DrassK. A. (1995). The roots of prison violence: A test of the deprivation, management, and “not-so-total” institution models. Crime & Delinquency, 41, 317-331.
40.
MearsD. P. (2008). Accountability, efficiency, and effectiveness in corrections: Shining a light on the black box of prison systems. Criminology & Public Policy, 7, 143-152.
41.
MearsD. P. (2012). The prison experience: Introduction to the special issue. Journal of Criminal Justice, 40, 345-347.
42.
MearsD. P.CochranJ. C.SiennickS. E.BalesW. D. (2012). Prison visitation and recidivism. Justice Quarterly, 29, 888-918.
43.
MonahanK. C.GoldweberA.CauffmanE. (2011). The effects of visitation on incarcerated juvenile offenders: How contact with the outside impacts adjustment on the inside. Law and Human Behavior, 35, 143-151.
44.
NaginD. S.PaternosterR. (1994). Personal capital and social control: The deterrence implications of a theory of individual differences in criminal offending. Criminology, 32, 581-606.
PaternosterR.BushwayS. (2009). Desistance and the “feared self”: Toward and identity theory of criminal desistance. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 99, 1103-1156.
47.
PetersiliaJ. (2003). When prisoners come home: Parole and prisoner reentry. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
48.
SampsonR. J.LaubJ. H. (1990). Crime and deviance over the life-course: The salience of adult social bonds. American Sociological Review, 55, 609-627.
49.
SchaferN. E. (1991). Prison visiting policies and practices. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 35, 263-275.
50.
ShoverN. (1996). Great pretenders: Pursuits and careers of persistent thieves. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
51.
SiennickS. E.MearsD. P.BalesW. D. (2013). Here and gone: Anticipation and separation effects of prison visits on inmate infractions. Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, 50, 417-444.
52.
SnyderZ. K. (2009). Keeping families together: The importance of maintaining mother-child contact for incarcerated women. Women & Criminal Justice, 19, 37-59.
53.
SykesG. M. (1958). The society of captives. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
54.
TewksburyR.DeMicheleM. (2005). Going to prison: A prison visitation program. The Prison Journal, 85, 292-310.
55.
TravisJ. (2005). But they all come back: Facing the challenges of prisoner reentry. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.
56.
TravisJ.SolomonA. L.WaulM. (2001). From prison to home: The dimensions and consequences of prisoner reentry. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
57.
UggenC. (2000). Work as a turning point in life course of criminals: A duration model of age, employment and recidivism. American Sociological Review, 65, 529-546.
58.
UggenC.ManzaJ.BehrensA. (2004). Less than the average citizen: Stigma, role transition, and the civic reintegration of convicted felons. In MarunaS.ImmarigeonR. (Eds.), After crime and punishment: Pathways to offender reintegration (pp. 261-293). Devon, UK: Willan.
59.
VisherC. A. (2013). Incarcerated fathers: Pathways from prison to home. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 24, 9-26.
60.
VisherC. A.Debus-SherrillS. A.YahnerJ. (2011). Employment after prison: A longitudinal study of former prisoners. Justice Quarterly, 28, 698-718.
61.
VisherC. A.O’ConnellD. J. (2012). Incarceration and inmates’ self perceptions about returning home. Journal of Criminal Justice, 40, 386-393.
62.
VisherC. A.TravisJ. (2011). Life on the outside: Returning home after incarceration. The Prison Journal, 91, 102S-119S.
WrightB. R. E.CaspiA.MoffittT. E.SilvaP. A. (1999). Low self-control, social bonds, and crime: Social causation, social selection, or both?Criminology, 37, 479-514.
