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Abstract
Following recent studies in Florida and Canada, we examine the effects of prison visitation on recidivism among 16,420 offenders released from Minnesota prisons between 2003 and 2007. Using multiple measures of visitation (any visit, total number of visits, visits per month, timing of visits, and number of individual visitors) and recidivism (new offense conviction and technical violation revocation), we found that visitation significantly decreased the risk of recidivism, a result that was robust across all of the Cox regression models that were estimated. The results also showed that visits from siblings, in-laws, fathers, and clergy were the most beneficial in reducing the risk of recidivism, whereas visits from ex-spouses significantly increased the risk. The findings suggest that revising prison visitation policies to make them more “visitor friendly” could yield public safety benefits by helping offenders establish a continuum of social support from prison to the community. We anticipate, however, that revising existing policies would not likely increase visitation to a significant extent among unvisited inmates, who comprised 39% of our sample. Accordingly, we suggest that correctional systems consider allocating greater resources to increase visitation among inmates with little or no social support.
Keywords offender reentry, prison, visitation, recidivism, social support
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Author Biographies
Grant Duwe is the director of research and evaluation for the Minnesota Department of Corrections. His research has been published in Criminology, Journal of Experimental Criminology, Criminal Justice Policy Review, Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, Criminal Justice and Behavior, Crime & Delinquency, Justice Quarterly, Homicide Studies, and Western Criminology Review. The author of the book, “Mass Murder in the United States: A History” (McFarland), he holds a PhD in criminology and criminal justice from Florida State University.
Valerie Clark is a research analyst at the Minnesota Department of Corrections. In addition to prisoner reentry, her research has focused on sentencing, victimization, and intimate partner violence. She earned a PhD from Pennsylvania State University.
