Program Profile: In-Prison Visitation (Florida)

Visitation in prison allows incarcerated persons to connect to the outside world by developing social bonds with family members and friends. The overall goal of in-prison visitation is to reduce recidivism and assist in helping incarcerated persons adjust to transitioning back into their community. The program is rated Promising. The recidivism rate was statistically significantly lower for incarcerated persons who received visitation compared with those who did not receive visitation.

A Promising rating implies that implementing the program may result in the intended outcome(s).

Program Goals

Prisoner reentry is one of the foremost social problems of the 21st century.  As a result, extensive research has been conducted to understand why some individuals continue a life of crime and others are able to desist from crime. Visitation, which has been a longstanding feature of the U.S. prison system, has been considered a way to reduce the recidivism rate. It is believed that through visitation, incarcerated persons can create ties to the community, which can reduce recidivism, and improve in-prison behavior and adjustment. Families, friends, and the community are assumed to provide support for incarcerated persons and reduce the likelihood that they will recidivate once they return to the community.

Program Components

In-prison visitation is available to all general incarcerated persons of the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC). During in-prison visitation, incarcerated persons receive visits from family members, spouses/significant others, children, other relatives, and friends. In the Florida DOC, incarcerated persons are given copies of the visitor applications once they reach their permanent location. Incarcerated persons are responsible for sending the applications to those they wish to be considered for placement on the visitor list.  An application must be completed by all visitors aged 12 or older, and takes approximately 30 days to process.  A visitor can only be on the visiting list for one incarcerated person at a time. Visitation is held on the weekends for all incarcerated persons.

Visitation is approved by the warden of the corrections facility. Approval will be given to the incarcerated person, who is responsible for notifying the desired party. A visitor can be disqualified from visiting if they provide false or inaccurate information, or, in some cases, if they have a criminal history. The warden will look into the nature, extent, and recency of the criminal offense when determining whether or not to approve the visitation. Visitors are not permitted to exchange or give anything to the incarcerated persons. The Florida DOC holds that in-prison visitation is not a right but a privilege for incarcerated persons, and can be revoked for a period of time based on their behavior. 

Program Theory

The basis of in-prison visitation is to reduce recidivism. There are many theories that hold that prison visits play important roles during incarceration, through providing a buffer against prison life, and after prison, through increasing the chances that incarcerated persons will be supported following release. Some of these theories include the social bond theory, the strain theory, and the labeling theory. Visitation may strengthen their social bonds, and constrain him from engaging in further criminal behavior. Visitation creates and sustains bonds through face-to-face interaction. Further, visitation can offer incarcerated persons the opportunity to preserve or restore relationships that were severed as a result of their imprisonment.  This interaction fosters ties between the incarcerated person and the outside community, and can have an overwhelming effect on the incarcerated person’s behavior. Such interaction can also provide incarcerated persons with access to resources (i.e., housing, jobs) following their release, which can reduce the likelihood of reoffending (Mears et al. 2011).

In-prison visitation may also decrease the strain felt by the incarcerated person during and after the incarceration period. According to the strain theory, visitations can reduce the feelings of loss and hopelessness associated with the ties they have with their families or friends (Mears et al. 2011).

Lastly, in-prison visitation can decrease the labeling effects that are associated with incarceration. According to the labeling theory, imprisonment may cause an incarcerated persons to identify him or herself as an “offender” (Mears et al. 2011).As a result, visits, and thus social support, during their period of incarceration can help incarcerated persons view themselves as prosocial individuals who are more than the crime they committed (Mears et al. 2011).

Study 1

Using the Florida Department of Corrections Offender Based Information System (OBIS), Mears and colleagues (2011) collected data to evaluate the effect of in-prison visitation on recidivism rates over an 18-month period. Administrative data was used to identify persons admitted to prison from November 1, 2000 to April 30, 2001, and released on or before April 30, 2002. The initial sample (N = 3,903) consisted of incarcerated persons who served a period of 12 months or less at release and received visitation during their sentence. Of that sample, only 24 percent of incarcerated persons received any visitation, which means 76 percent were not visited in prison. The final sample for the study was 1,846 incarcerated persons (923 incarcerated persons who were visited in prison, and 923 who were not visited).

The assessment compared incarcerated persons who received any visits with those who received no type of visitation. Visitation records reflect the total number of visits the incarcerated person received during their full term of incarceration. A Propensity Score Matching Assessment was used to create matching treatment and comparison groups. To create matched groups, a one-to-one nearest neighbor, no-replacement matching method was used. Incarcerated persons were matched on age, sex, race, sentence length, primary offense type, prior criminal history, disciplinary incidents while in prison, and supervision status after release. There were no significant differences between the groups on a range of baseline factors associated with recidivism, such as age, sex, race, and sentence length. Matched groups were created based on propensity score; an incarcerated person with visitation was matched with an incarcerated person who did not receive visitation and had a similar propensity score.

To determine whether any visitation or the number of visitations reduces recidivism, reconviction data for each incarcerated person in the study was collected for a full 3-year period after release. Recidivism was measured in terms of conviction for a new felony within the time period that led to a sanction. Visitation was measured in the “dosage” (the frequency of visitation). A logistic regression model was used to analyze the comparison results to identify recidivism rates across the treatment and comparison groups. Felony data was included to focus specifically on serious offenses, while the 3-year window ensured a longer time period and that the focus was not restricted to those who are mostly likely to fail within the first year or two following release. Three types of recidivism were included for the study: violent, property, and drug reconviction. Subgroup analyses were conducted to examine the effect that different visitation types had on outcomes.

Subgroup Analysis

Mears and colleagues (2011) also evaluated recidivism rates for each type of visitation an inmate received. Three types of visits were examined: visits from spouses or significant others, family members other than spouses or significant others, or friends. If an inmate received more than one type of visit, they were included in each visitation type group. All three groups were compared with inmates who did not receive visitation. Being visited by a spouse/significant other resulted in a statistically significant 9.6 percentage point reduction in recidivism, while being visited by a friend resulted in a statistically significant 8.3 percentage point reduction in recidivism. Finally, being visited by family was associated with a 2.7 percentage point reduction in any recidivism; however, this was not statistically significant.

Dosage or frequencies of visits were also analyzed. Inmates who received multiple visits displayed a moderate reduction in the likelihood of recidivating, although those inmates who moved from 1 to 2 visits demonstrated the largest possibility of decrease.

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

Following are CrimeSolutions-rated programs that are related to this practice:

Prison Visitation for Incarcerated Adults

Prison visitation allows incarcerated individuals the opportunity to meet with family and friends to sustain connections and social supports. One of the main goals of prison visitation is to reduce recidivism of individuals once they are released from incarceration. The practice is rated Promising for reducing recidivism of individuals who receive visits while incarcerated.

Evidence Ratings for Outcomes

Crime & Delinquency - Multiple crime/offense types

Why might a practice's outcome ratings differ from the ratings of specific programs encompassed by that practice?