“It Makes Him Feel Even Farther Away”: Disruptions in Communication Among Families Impacted by Incarceration During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Published date: 01 December 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00938548231206535
• Author: Breanna Boppre,Meghan A. Novisky
• Date: 01 December 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2023, Vol. 50, No. 12, December 2023, 1827 –1851.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548231206535

Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions

© 2023 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

1827

“IT MAKES HIM FEEL EVEN FARTHER AWAY”

Disruptions in Communication Among Families

Impacted by Incarceration During the COVID-19

Pandemic

BREANNA BOPPRE

Sam Houston State University

MEGHAN A. NOVISKY

Cleveland State University

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted people across the globe but left particular risks and restrictions for incarcerated people.

Lockdowns and the suspension of in-person visitation in U.S. facilities drastically changed everyday life for incarcerated

people and their families. Families on the outside were left with less contact with their incarcerated loved ones. This study

explores access to communication during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspectives of families with incarcerated loved

ones in the United States. We conducted two rounds of interviews with family members across 20 states (n = 59). Results of

our thematic analysis reveal stressors encountered by families during the pandemic, including worry and frustration around

uncertainty in communication, disconnected relationships due to visitation closure, and additional financial and emotional

burdens. Interviewees noted the importance of social support in coping with these stressors. We discuss theoretical and policy

implications followed by future directions.

Keywords: incarceration; parental incarceration; prisons; prisoners; qualitative methods

As the world leader in incarceration rates (Walmsley, 2014) and with 1.8 million people

behind bars (Vera Institute of Justice, 2021), the United States faces distinct challenges

in preventing and treating COVID-19 cases within its prisons and jails. The COVID-19

infection rate was 5.5 times higher among people incarcerated than the general population

AUTHORS’ NOTE: We would like to thank the family members who participated in this study and shared their

experiences. We would also like to acknowledge and thank both undergraduate and graduate students for their

assistance in audio transcription: Jennifer Bourgeois, Liam Byrne, Cheyenne Johnson, Keely McCoy, Kate Nance,

Leah Wescott, Shea Witherspoon. A special thank you goes to Sarah Hrenchir and Alyssa Linares who gave addi-

tional assistance and were instrumental to the study. We would also like to acknowledge and thank Wichita State

University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Office of Research and Technology for funding this study.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Breanna Boppre, Department of Victim Studies,

Sam Houston State University, 1905 University Ave, Huntsville, TX, 77340; e-mail: breanna.boppre@gmail.com.

1206535CJBXXX10.1177/00938548231206535Criminal Justice and BehaviorBoppre, Novisky / Communication During the COVID-19 Pandemic

research-article2023

1828 CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR

during the height of the pandemic (Saloner et al., 2020). Although the COVID-19 pandemic

altered the daily lives of all Americans, the impacts had pronounced consequences for those

impacted by incarceration.

While correctional agencies across the nation adapted to the pandemic, various measures

were put in place in efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus, such as attempts to social

distance, limitations on movement throughout the facility, and restrictions on who could

enter the facilities, which included the elimination of visitation from families (Dallaire

et al., 2021; Novisky et al., 2020). Yet, these efforts, particularly surrounding lockdowns,

had distinct consequences for incarcerated people and their families. Many families were

not able to see their incarcerated loved one for more than 2 years due to the elimination of

in-person visitation during the pandemic. Such impacts are pervasive as an estimated 45%

of the U.S. population (6.5 million people) has experienced familial incarceration

(Elderbroom et al., 2018).

This study uses in-depth interviews to assess family members’ (i.e., parents, children,

spouses/partners, extended family members, and friends) experiences and adaptations to dis-

rupted communication during the pandemic. This study extends prior research by (a) demon-

strating the disruptions in familial communication due to responses to the pandemic across

several states and how these were interpreted; (b) elucidating another health-related stressor

of incarceration encountered by families; and (c) building upon what is known about the

secondary prisonization framework via experiences of COVID-19. The findings call for poli-

cies that reduce reliance on incarceration and barriers to communication among families.

COMMUNICATION AND FAMILIAL INCARCERATION

More frequent visits (and by extension communication) during incarceration between

families are importantly related to post-release success (Mowen & Visher, 2016). In Visher

and O’Connell’s (2012) longitudinal reentry study of 800 men and women exiting periods of

incarceration in Chicago, Cleveland, and Houston, family support during incarceration pre-

dicted increases in optimism about success after incarceration among those surveyed (Visher

& O’Connell, 2012). Incarcerated fathers who report more regular contact with their children

and good family support not only experience greater attachment to their children, they are

more likely to work more hours per week upon release and less likely to recidivate (Visher,

2013). On the contrary, family conflict is correlated with increases in risk for substance use

post-release (Mowen & Visher, 2015). Thus, incarceration leaves families in a precarious

position, as they play an integral role in desistance yet are also barraged with an assortment

of barriers to maintaining proximate, stable connections with their loved ones.

Restrictions on access to communication are significant even during non-pandemic con-

ditions. Contact between incarcerated people and families is regulated by each state’s

Department of Corrections (DOC) through codified and uncodified rules enforced by cor-

rectional officers (Dallaire et al., 2021). Restrictions are placed on access to written, ver-

bal, and oral communication. Mail (physical letters or cards) are surveilled by correctional

officers. Facilities limit and monitor incarcerated people’s access to telephones and other

calling devices (i.e., tablets, virtual visits) as physical access to the devices is often

restricted to certain hours of the day. Finally, families are only allowed to visit in-person

during certain days and times of the week. However, access to these forms of communica-

tion can be disrupted and even further restricted when facilities are on “lockdown” (Boppre

et al., 2022). These lockdowns can occur without notice due to security reasons (e.g.,