Changing the Ties that Bind

• Author: Thomas J. Mowen,Christy A. Visher
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12207
• Published date: 01 May 2016
• Date: 01 May 2016

RESEARCH ARTICLE

INCARCERATION AND FAMILY

RELATIONSHIPS

Changing the Ties that Bind

How Incarceration Impacts Family Relationships

Thomas J. Mowen

University of Wyoming

Christy A. Visher

University of Delaware

Research Summary

By using a subsample of the Returning Home data set, we explored how family rela-

tionships change during reentry as a result of incarceration. Overall, we found that

individuals who completed parenting classes, those with more frequent visits from fam-

ily members, and Black and female respondents experienced positive changes in family

relationships. On the other hand, single and divorced individuals, those with prior

convictions and mental health issues, and individuals who reported barriers to family

contact reported significant negative changes within the family relationship.

Policy Implications

The findings from this study suggest that reducing barriers to family contact—especially

the cost of visitation and visitation procedures—may lead to positive changes within

family relationships for formerly incarcerated individuals. Furthermore, developing

programs to assist individuals with mentalhealth issues to maintain family relationships

may create avenues to help those individuals keep, or reestablish,family ties after release.

Keywords

incarceration, reentry, family

Direct correspondence to Thomas J. Mowen, Department of Criminal Justice, University of Wyoming, Laramie,

WY 82071 (e-mail: tmowen@uwyo.edu).

DOI:10.1111/1745-9133.12207 C2016 American Society of Criminology 503

Criminology & Public Policy rVolume 15 rIssue 2

Research Article Incarceration and Family Relationships

Incarceration rates in the United States remain near an all-time high (Glazeand Kaeble,

2014), and prior studies have shown that imprisonment has become a common

experience for many people in the United States, especially those located in poor,

inner-city areas of the country (Pettit, 2012). As a consequence of high incarceration rates,

an increasing number of individuals face reentry each year (Travis, Western, and Redburn,

2014), and understanding the mechanisms that contribute to successful reintegration have

become important points of focus for researchers. Prior work has identified many key factors

that relate to successful reentry, and evidence-based practices are beginning to emerge from

this research (Drake, 2013; Lipsey and Cullen, 2007; MacKenzie, 2006; Visher, Lattimore,

Barri, and Tueller, 2016). An additional focus of research has been on the importance of

family for successful reintegration (Berg and Huebner, 2010; Martinez, 2006; Mowen and

Visher, 2015; Seiter and Kadela, 2003; Shapiro and Schwartz, 2001).

Formerlyincarcerated individuals often rely on family members after release from prison

(Berg and Huebner, 2010; Western, Braga, Davis, and Sirois, 2015; also Shollenberger,

2009), and returning men and women often highlight that their family is a key source of

emotional (Phillips and Lindsay, 2011) and material support (Laub and Sampson, 2003;

Western et al., 2015). Family members often help returning individuals find employment

(Uggen, Manza, and Behrens, 2004), provide housing or a place to stay (Western et al.,

2015), and help integrate the formerly incarcerated person back into the community

(Hairston, Rollin, and Jo, 2004; Uggen et al., 2004). At the same time, although we know

that families play a central role in this process, we know less about how incarceration

contributes to changes in family dynamics (for a commentary, see Martinez, 2006). This

gap in the literature is especially important to address given the importance of family in

the process of reintegration (Barh, Harris, Fisher, and Armstrong, 2010; Hairston et al.,

2004; Naser and La Vigne, 2006), and prior work has shown that strong ties to family are

often key foundations for desistance during the reentry process (Berg and Huebner, 2010;

Doherty, 2006). Although it is clear that incarceration has an impact on family members

(Braman, 2004; Comfort, 2008), thus far, we havelittle understanding of how incarceration

actually manifests as—and contributes to—changes within the family.By using a subsample

from the Returning Home data set, the goal of this research project is to assess changes in

offenders’ reports of family interaction and emotional support pre- and post-incarceration.

Families and Incarceration

There are ample reasons why changes within the family relationship through the course

of incarceration are important to investigate as the central role families play in the lives of

individuals who are, and have been, incarcerated has been well documented (Travis, 2005;

Visher, 2007). Numerous research projects have demonstrated that close ties to family and

family contact during incarceration are related to lower recidivism upon release (Bales and

Mears, 2008; Klein, Bartholomew, andHibbert, 2002; Naser and La Vigne, 2006). On the

other hand, previous work has also shown that increased family conflict experienced upon

504 Criminology & Public Policy