Changing the Ties that Bind

• Date: 01 May 2016
• Author: Sara Wakefield
• Published date: 01 May 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12208

POLICY ESSAY

INCARCERATION AND FAMILY

RELATIONSHIPS

Changing the Ties that Bind

Distinguishing the Connected from the Disconnected

and Accounting for the Burdensome

Sara Wakeeld

Rutgers University

In “Changing the Ties That Bind: How Incarceration Impacts Family Relationships,”

Thomas Mowen and Christy Visher (2016, this issue) use novel data on incarceration

experiences to show how family relationships change before and after release. Mowen

and Visher show that the quality and character of family relationships just after release

are associated with the characteristics of inmates (conviction histories, demographics, and

mental health status), as well as with experiences while incarcerated (program involvement,

visit frequency, and exposure to solitary confinement). Men (relative to women), Whites

(relative to Blacks), and those with lengthier criminal histories or mental health problems

report decreased family interactions between incarceration and reentry. Program partici-

pation is also marginally related to more family interaction during reentry, most notably,

participation in parenting classes. Similar patterns of effects are found for emotional support

during reentry, and many of the reentry outcomes are associated with visit frequency while

incarcerated.

The contribution by Mowenand Visher (2016) is useful for several reasons. First, it adds

to mounting evidence on the importance of social connections for successful reintegration

after incarceration (e.g., Cochran, 2014). Second, and more importantly, it represents an

effort to link the conditions of confinement more broadly to family functioning after release.

The era of mass incarceration coincided with a retreat from research on the social aspects

of confinement experiences (Jacobs, 1977; Sykes, 2007 [1958]) in favor of research on the

collateral consequences of incarceration (Pettit,2012; Wakefield and Uggen, 2010; Western,

2006). Studies more squarely focused on the conditions of confinement during the prison

Direct correspondence to Sara Wakefield, School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University, 123 Washington

Street, Newark, NJ 07102 (e-mail: sara.wakefield@rutgers.edu).

DOI:10.1111/1745-9133.12208 C2016 American Society of Criminology 543

Criminology & Public Policy rVolume 15 rIssue 2