Are All Welcome? An Empirical Examination of Visitor Networks Among Incarcerated Youth

Abstract

Although research finds that visitation can be quite beneficial for incarcerated youth, there is variability in when visits matter. One source of heterogeneity is who visits, with existing research finding that certain visitor types are more helpful than others. What has yet to be considered, though, is the importance of visitor networks as a whole. Using latent class analysis, this study examines whether incarcerated youths’ visitors form unique networks, and whether the visitation-recidivism relationship differs across these groups. Results indicate that youths’ visitors fall into three categories: caretakers, immediate family, or a full network of visitors, and that the visitation-recidivism relationship differs across these groups. The results underscore the need for future research to consider not only the individual visitors that incarcerated persons receive but also their visitor network as a whole.