Prevalence and determinants of visits from partner, child(ren), family and friends in Dutch prisons: the role of social networks and criminal history
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-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.