Managing Barriers to Visitation: A Mixed-Methods Examination of Family Members of Prisoners

• In Event: Conduct Disorders, Romantic Disorders, and Familial Disorders Among Men and Women Inmates

Abstract

Although U.S. prison populations have been declining, an estimated 1.56 million individuals were held in state or federal custody at the end of 2014. However, with carceral populations previously skyrocketing to unprecedented rates, some insist that the U.S. continues to suffer from unintended consequences of mass incarceration. One of these consequences is the increase of families affected by incarceration. Despite scholarly examinations spanning forty years, not enough attention has been paid to the prisoner-family relationship and how it is maintained, or attempted to be maintained, through visitation. Recognizing foundational scholarship, this mixed-methods research design aims to explore and capture how family members of prisoners navigate and manage the visitation process. Furthermore, this study incorporates the concept of peer association to explain how strategies may be learned over time through participation in a support group for family members of prisoners. In addition, how correctional policies can affect the visitation process are also examined. As benefits of visitation have been empirically supported, it is important correctional policies are designed to help encourage and facilitate the prisoner-family relationship, not hinder it. Data collected through participant observation, in-depth interviews, and survey dissemination will be explained and preliminary results garnered thus far will be presented.

Author

• Alison Cox, Michigan State University