The authors’ research goal was to examine the potential correspondence between prisoners in restrictive housing and visitation; in the paper, they discuss the two analyses performed on short-term disciplinary segregation impacts and on long-term patterns of RH stays and visitations, to understand their interplay throughout a prison term.
Theory and logic suggest that placement in restrictive housing (RH) may affect prison visitation, which may be counterproductive given the potential benefits of visitation. The goal of this paper was to examine the potential correspondence between RH and visitation. The authors used data on incarcerated people in Ohio to conduct two related analyses. One analysis assessed whether the first incident of short-term disciplinary segregation impacts prison visits shortly after segregation. The second analysis examined longitudinal patterns of RH stays and visits to understand the interplay of the two throughout a prison term. Findings suggested that disciplinary segregation might reduce the odds of visitation immediately. RH early in a prison term may also operate to “cut off” future visitation. These results highlighted an important knowledge gap; the authors suggest that more research is needed to disentangle how RH may lead to the dissolution of social ties. They also discuss implications for research. Publisher Abstract Provided