Visitation Loss in the RHU

• In Event: Impact of Visitation in Jails and Prisons

Abstract

Individuals in prison face new visitation rules when confined in restrictive housing units (RHUs). In turn, we anticipate visitation loss as a part of the restrictive housing experience, but we lack knowledge on the scale or contours of this loss. Understanding how visitation is affected by restrictive housing practices is critical for sketching out the implications of restrictive housing for social connectedness and depths of isolation in prison. The current study uses ten years of administrative data on incarcerated men to understand how visitation changes as individuals are confined in restrictive housing units. It then draws from open-ended survey data on incarcerated men in the RHU to provide insights into potential sources of visitation loss. The results suggest that incarcerated men in the RHU experience degrees of loss across each type of visitor except for religious and legal counsel. Survey data shed light on informal barriers to visits that arise in the RHU and how some incarcerated men in the RHU exercise agency by opting out of visits.

Author

• Claudia Anderson, Florida State University