‘Not feeling like a caged animal:’ prisoner perceptions of a remote video visitation system

Murdoch, Danielle J.; King, Laura L.

doi:10.1080/0735648x.2019.1653216

Cited by 12 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…When these restrictions were imposed at the beginning of the pandemic, the service simultaneously eliminated the costs of local and long-distance telephone calls and individuals in custody have an unlimited number of calls to increase their ability to maintain contact with their loved ones (BC Corrections, 2020a). Communication with loved ones through phone calls and video visits offers incarcerated populations social support that may minimize the pains of imprisonment, increase their adherence to institutional policies and practices, and promote their reintegration back into society (Duwe & McNeeley, 2020;Hewson et al, 2020;Murdoch & King, 2020).…”

Section: Changes To Visitation Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

British Columbia Provincial Corrections’ Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Correctional Policy and Practice

Murdoch

2020

Victims & Offenders

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Health and justice officials across North America have described correctional institutions as petri dishes for the transmission of COVID-19. Individuals in custody commonly have health profiles that are more compromised than those of the general population. Institutional infrastructure issues and custody counts that create barriers to protocols, including physical distancing measures, that health authorities recommend to limit the spread of the virus compound these profiles. Many correctional authorities have struggled to implement strategies to mitigate infection rates among custodial populations. This paper examines the strategies employed by one provincial correctional authority in Canada that has to date successfully prevented the spread of COVID-19 in custody centers by adopting a health-informed approach to the crisis rather than a traditional justice-informed response. The findings highlight practices that can inform the responses of other jurisdictions as the pandemic continues and identify areas of future research on the effects of COVID-19 on incarcerated persons, correctional and health-care staff, and communities.

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Section: Changes To Visitation Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

British Columbia Provincial Corrections’ Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Correctional Policy and Practice

Murdoch

2020

Victims & Offenders

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“…Many inmates are grateful for video visits; they feel that the correctional setting is harsh and don’t want their loved ones—especially their children—to experience that setting (Hilliman, 2006). In addition, prisoners and visitors believe video visits still help them maintain ties with their families (Murdoch & King, 2019; Tartaro & Levy, 2017a, 2017b). Furthermore, many visitors appreciate the convenience provided by remote video visitation (Tartaro & Levy, 2017b) and appreciate being able to avoid the unpleasant institutional setting (Sitren et al, 2020).…”

Section: Video Visitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Adults who escort children to visits tend to prefer this type of visit for children (Tartaro & Levy, 2017a). At the same time, a majority of prisoners and visitors report a preference for in-person visitation; they feel it results in higher-quality visits and that the intimacy provided by face-to-face visits allows for stronger maintenance of social ties (Murdoch & King, 2019; Tartaro & Levy, 2017b). While many barriers that reduce visitation are avoided, there are still flaws such as technological issues and the costs of the visits (Murdoch & King, 2019).…”

Section: Video Visitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the same time, a majority of prisoners and visitors report a preference for in-person visitation; they feel it results in higher-quality visits and that the intimacy provided by face-to-face visits allows for stronger maintenance of social ties (Murdoch & King, 2019; Tartaro & Levy, 2017b). While many barriers that reduce visitation are avoided, there are still flaws such as technological issues and the costs of the visits (Murdoch & King, 2019). In a recent study, Sitren et al (2020) found that off-site video visitors considered technological issues to be a major source of frustration, with 30% of participants experiencing problems that caused visits to be cut short.…”

Section: Video Visitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While there were observed benefits of video visitation such as improved self-esteem and improved relationships with children and other family members, the results showed no significant effect of video visitation on institutional misconduct. Murdoch and King (2019) reported that inmates believed the promise of video visits from family and friends would motivate them to follow the rules while incarcerated, and about one-third said video visits made them want to improve their behavior after release. However, there have been no studies examining the relationship between video visitation and recidivism.…”

Section: Video Visitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Just as Good as the Real Thing? The Effects of Prison Video Visitation on Recidivism

Duwe

McNeeley

2020

Crime & Delinquency

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While research has consistently shown that in-person prison visitation is associated with reduced recidivism, much less is known about the effects of video visits. This study compares recidivism outcomes between 885 inmates who had at least one video visit and a matched comparison group of 885 who did not receive a virtual visit. Video visits reduced two measures of recidivism (general and felony reconvictions) but did not have a significant effect on the other two measures (violent reconviction and technical violation revocations). As the number of video visits increased, so did the size of the recidivism reduction, at least for general and felony reoffending. Despite the generally favorable impact on recidivism, video visitation was used sparingly by Minnesota’s prison population.

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Towards family preservation: A systematic jurisdiction analysis of prison visitation policies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Muñiz¹,

Corcoran²,

Marzougui³

et al. 2024

Psychology, Public Policy, and Law

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Since the onset of COVID-19, visitation to correctional facilities has been in flux, including periods of nationwide suspensions for all in-person visits. Frequent, high-quality parent-child interactions are critical in preventing recidivism and beneficial for the healthy development of children with incarcerated parents. As more variants arise, prisons must reevaluate their family visitation policies to ensure that families stay connected yet safe. As a follow-up to a previous study, we documented how different jurisdictions, including all 50 states, the District of Columbia (D.C.), and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), communicated, via their websites, their response to COVID-19 and the changes to prison visitation policies. Using each jurisdiction's website as our primary data source, we gathered publicly available information related to each state's COVID-19 safety protocols and prison visitation policies, with special attention to policies pertaining to minors. Findings suggest that as of November and December 2021, all jurisdictions, except D.C., had resumed in-person family visits (n = 34; 65.4%) or had announced their commitment to a phased return (n = 17; 32.7%). Additionally, most states and D.C. (n = 35; 65.7%) offered video visits to all of their prison residents (incarcerated individuals) and six states (11.5%) offered video visits to some of their residents, whereas 11 states and the Federal BOP (21.2%) did not offer any video visits as an alternative. Despite the continued need for safe, accessible, and family-friendly alternatives to in-person visits, 11 jurisdictions did not offer video visitation to their residents further straining families' ability to stay connected through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

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‘Not feeling like a caged animal:’ prisoner perceptions of a remote video visitation system

Cited by 12 publications

References 40 publications

British Columbia Provincial Corrections’ Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Correctional Policy and Practice

British Columbia Provincial Corrections’ Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Correctional Policy and Practice

Just as Good as the Real Thing? The Effects of Prison Video Visitation on Recidivism

Towards family preservation: A systematic jurisdiction analysis of prison visitation policies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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