One of the few ways individuals can have meaningful contact with the outside world while incarcerated is through prison visits. Prison visitation has steadily gained academic attention in the past... Show moreOne of the few ways individuals can have meaningful contact with the outside world while incarcerated is through prison visits. Prison visitation has steadily gained academic attention in the past decade as theoretical accounts highlight that receiving visits in prison is beneficial and empirical studies largely reinforce this, leading to increased calls for stimulating prison visits. Yet not all results lead to unequivocal conclusions, and little is known about whether, how often, and from whom individuals receive visits and under which circumstances visits affect behavior, especially across different contexts and populations. Work on this topic is complicated as visitation is a heterogeneous experience and the social and incarceration contexts in which visits take place are complex. By taking a comprehensive approach and using multifaceted measures of visitation from several sources, the current dissertation furthers our understanding of prison visitation, its impacts, and its likelihood across people. This dissertation demonstrates that a substantial number of individuals do not receive visits in Dutch prison. While some individuals are less likely to receive visits, this dissertation finds that prison policies can also enable or hinder the receipt of visits. Receiving visits is not always positive for life in prison, but receiving frequent visits, especially before release, seems important for reentry success. Show less
Berghuis, M.L.; Palmen, J.M.H.; Cochran, J.; Nieuwbeerta, P. 2022
This paper aims to advance theory and knowledge about prison visitation by organizing prior studies within a framework of visitation enablers and barriers and examining how practical, relational,... Show moreThis paper aims to advance theory and knowledge about prison visitation by organizing prior studies within a framework of visitation enablers and barriers and examining how practical, relational, and experiential factors explain variation in prison visiting among 773 adult males across eight Dutch prisons. Findings suggest that all three domains play out at once to influence visitation. Whether visitors come to visit seems to depend on their relationship with the incarcerated individual, whereas traveling distance is more predictive of how often they visit. Policies that introduce practical barriers can differentially affect visits from specific relationships. Finally, results indicate that incarcerated individuals make decisions about visits based on their in-prison experiences. Policy and research implications are discussed. Show less
Berghuis, M.L.; Palmen, J.M.H.; Nieuwbeerta, P. 2021
Scholarship has shown that visitation is an especially important experience for inmates and can have a beneficial impact on life after release. Receiving visits in prison, however, is not self... Show moreScholarship has shown that visitation is an especially important experience for inmates and can have a beneficial impact on life after release. Receiving visits in prison, however, is not self-evident.This study uses data from a nationally representative sample of adults incarcerated in the Netherlands (N=4.376) to estimate the prevalence of, and identify determinants for, visits from partner, child(ren), family and friends. Consistent with expectations from social support theory, results indicate that having a strong social network is associated with visitation. Inmates who are older, have a non-Western background and have short prison stays are less likely to be visited. Unexpectedly, the type of offense and incarceration history were less predictive of prison visits, although results differed across visitor types. Implications of these findings for prison administrators and research are discussed. Show less
Berghuis, M.L.; Palmen, J.M.H.; Nieuwbeerta, P. 2020
PurposeThe Life in Custody (LIC) Study is a nationwide prospective cohort study examining the quality of prison life in the Netherlands. The purpose of this paper is to describe Dutch prisoners’... Show morePurposeThe Life in Custody (LIC) Study is a nationwide prospective cohort study examining the quality of prison life in the Netherlands. The purpose of this paper is to describe Dutch prisoners’ perceptions of prison climate, as well as differences across regimes. Design/methodology/approachThe target population of the study consisted of all male and female adult prisoners in the Netherlands who were incarcerated in various regimes in a total of 28 prisons, between January and April 2017. An intensive and personal recruitment strategy was employed. Participants completed a detailed survey, the prison climate questionnaire (PCQ). Self-reported information on a variety of topics was collected, including perceived prison climate, well-being and self-reported behaviour. FindingsIn total, 4,938 prisoners participated in the survey, which amounts to a high response rate of 81 per cent. Analyses show that respondents’ characteristics are almost identical to those of non-respondents. Ratings of prison climate vary across domains and regimes, with more positive scores for minimum-security regimes. Practical implicationsA detailed methodological approach is described that can be adopted to achieve a high response rate with survey research among prisoners. The paper alerts researchers and practitioners to a large ongoing study and first findings on prison climate in the Netherlands. The PCQ can be requested from the authors and used in future research (internationally) to gain information about the perceived quality of prison life. The paper gives insight in how different regimes are associated with differences in perceived prison climate. Collaboration on the research project can be sought with the authors. Originality/valueFindings of the LIC study illustrate the value of having data on prison climate. Results of the study will contribute to more knowledge on imprisonment and what can be done to improve the humane treatment of offenders by the criminal justice system. Moreover, knowledge about the methodology of the study may enable future comparative research on prison climate. Show less
