Does Staying Connected Matter? The Impact of Prison Visits on Recidivism

• In Event: Incarceration and Reentry

Abstract

The United States incarcerates over one million individuals annually, with high recidivism rates driving persistent incarceration levels. While social support networks are theorized to facilitate reentry, there is limited causal evidence on how maintaining these connections during incarceration affects post-release outcomes. This paper estimates the causal effect of in-person prison visitation on recidivism using an instrumental variables strategy that exploits exogenous variation in the distance between an inmate’s assigned facility and their potential visitor pool. This project leverages detailed data on all individuals admitted to state prison and data on prison visits that occurred over a 6 year period in Washington state. I first document that inmates placed farther from home receive significantly fewer visits. I then estimate treatment effects and find that both receiving visitation versus not and the overall number of visits received reduce recidivism, lowering the probability of re-incarceration within one year and within three years. I explore heterogeneity in visit propensity and treatment effects across several margins, and additionally investigate potential mechanisms, focusing on the role of post-release housing stability and employment.

Author

• Danielle Nemschoff, University of Chicago
  Presenting Author