Research suggests that incarcerated youth who receive visits, phone calls and letters have fewer behavior problems and perform better in school.
The research on incarcerated adults, done by the Vera Institute of Justice, said there is “limited research” as to whether family visits affect the behavior of incarcerated adults.
“Vera researchers found that family visitation of incarcerated youth was associated with improved behavior and school performance,” the study said.
“These findings highlight the importance of visitation and suggest that juvenile correctional facilities should try to change their visitation policies to promote more frequent visitation with families,” the study reported.
Vera research staff visited four youth correctional facilities to survey volunteer offenders. Survey questions queried participants about their perception of contact with family by either visit, letter or telephone.
“The analysis explored the relationship between family visitation and two juvenile correctional outcomes: 1) behavioral incident rates and 2) grade-point average (GPA),” it was reported.
According to the study, researchers examined incidents of behavior rates of youths who receive no visits, infrequent visits and regular visits. The association of visits and GPAs were also studied.
“Youth who were never visited had statistically significant higher behavioral incident rates compared to youth who were visited infrequently or youth who received regular visits,” Vera Institute reported.
For youth who received regular visits, their behavior incidents per month were four; for those who received infrequent visits, their incidents per month was six; and for youths who never received visits, their incidents per month rose to 14, the study reported.
The research focused, in part, on public safety when offenders returned to their communities. “Phone calls, letter-writing, and visitation with family members, and other so-called ‘pro-social supports,’ help sustain these relationships,” the study reported.
The study indicates visiting may be associated with positive youth behavior. “Youth who had never received a visit exhibited the highest rates of behavioral incidents; as visitation frequency increased, the number of behavioral incidents decreased,” the study reported.
The study said behavior among youth who most often received visits was associated with an “improved or higher GPA.”
Benefits resulting from youth who receive family visits are often met with “significant barriers.” Distance is one of these barriers when a juvenile is placed in a facility far from home, because these youths are less likely to receive a visit during confinement, the study said.
“Similarly, although frequent visitation was associated with a higher GPA, it is unclear if school performance changed (improved or decreased) after the incarceration,” the report concluded.
“Facilities can benefit immensely by changing their visitation policies to encourage frequent contact between family and incarcerated youth,” the report concluded.
