Survey of Jail Visitors About Visitation Policies

Abstract

Little has been written about policies affecting the public who visit jails. As the number of jail inmates increases, many offenders' families are affected. For the majority, their first contact with the criminal justice system might be by visiting an inmate in jail. This study measured the levels of visitors' understanding and satisfaction with visitation policies at two county jails in a northeastern state. A total of 281 visitors from two county jails completed the surveys. Data from this study revealed that-to meet the needs of the visitors-attention should be given to methods of visiting, jail staff training, dissemination of visitation policies, and conditions of inmate incarceration. By addressing these issues, problems that visitors encounter while visiting inmates may be lessened, and their concerns about inmates may be decreased. These changes may lead to more amenable interactions between visitors and jail staff during visitation.

Disentangling the Relationship Between Social Ties, Prison Visitation, and Recidivism

“…Furthermore, visitation may sustain an inmate’s social connectedness outside the prison walls (Bales & Mears, 2008; Brunton-Smith & McCarthy, 2016; Duncan & Balbar, 2008). When barriers to visitation exist, these relationships are placed at risk (Christian, 2005; Comfort, 2003; Sturges & Al-Khattar, 2009; Tewksbury & DeMichele, 2005), social ties are weakened, and the risk of recidivism increases (Berg & Huebner, 2011; Cobbina, Huebner, & Berg, 2012).…”

Visitation Modality Preferences for Adults Visiting Jails

“…In addition, some visitation systems make it difficult for the two parties to maintain eye contact due to the placement of the camera away from the monitor. Poor monitor quality also has the potential to adversely affect the visit (Sturges & Al-Khattar, 2009). One of the most important functions of the face-to-face visit is for the visitor to "see" the inmate with his or her own eyes.…”

“…Sturges (2002) interviewed jail visitors who were frustrated by the long waits that they had to endure. What tended to frustrate visitors even more was waiting for so long only to find out that their visit would be cut short or canceled, because the wait cut into the visitation time (Comfort, 2008;Sturges & Al-Khattar, 2009).…”

"How can you live without your kids?": Distancing from and embracing the stigma of “incarcerated mother"

“…But as Klofas (1990, p. 69) writes, "the jail touches more people's lives than does any other form of correctional service." Thirty times more people rotate through jails than prisons each year (Richie, 1996), and the number of people incarcerated in jails has increased steadily over the past two decades (Sturges & Al-Khattar, 2009). Approximately 60% of women at Northeast Jail were serving sentences for drug possession or sales, 30% for property crimes such as writing bad checks and identity theft, and about 10% for violent crimes such as assault and battery.…”