Inmates Who Receive Visits in Prison: Exploring Factors That Predict

• NCJ Number: 241842
• Journal: Federal Probation Volume: 76 Issue: 3 Dated: December 2012 Pages: 43-46
• Author(s): Richard Tewsbury; David Patrick Connor
• Date Published: December 2012
• Length: 4 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study identifies inmate characteristics that may influence the frequency of visitation by family members and friends during incarceration.

Abstract

The findings indicate that an inmate's demographic characteristics influenced how often he was visited during his imprisonment. Younger, White, and more highly educated inmates were more likely to receive visits than their inmate peers. This suggests that prisons should pursue alternative strategies for encouraging and facilitating prison visitation among inmates who are non-White or in the racial minority for a specific jurisdiction, as well as those inmates who have lower educational levels and were older. Several aspects of an inmate's prison experience also impacted the number of visits that he received while imprisoned. Inmates who were admitted to prison on a new sentence were more likely to receive visits than inmates admitted to prison on a parole, probation, special sentence, or work-release revocation. Inmates with fewer prior incarcerations were also more likely to receive visits than inmates with more prior incarcerations. Inmates without gang affiliation were more likely to receive visits than non-gang inmates. Also, fewer visits were received by inmates with more disciplinary infractions. Thus, alternative strategies for prison visitation should be considered for inmates who violate the terms of their community supervision, have prior incarcerations, are affiliated with a gang, or have more disciplinary infractions. The target population for this study included all adult inmates incarcerated in State-operated correctional facilities in a Midwestern State between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2011. Data were obtained on inmate demographics, criminal/incarceration history, and visitation records. Given the small number of female inmates, they were excluded from the study. Information was obtained on 585 inmates. 2 tables and 15 references