Supportive Communication Skills as a Protective Factor Among Couples Experiencing Incarceration

• Published date: 01 November 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00938548231195036
• Author: Katherine A. Durante,Eman Tadros,Candis Braxton,Melanie Barbini
• Date: 01 November 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2023, Vol. 50, No. 11, November 2023, 1643 –1660.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548231195036

Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions

© 2023 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

1643

SUPPORTIVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS AS A

PROTECTIVE FACTOR AMONG COUPLES

EXPERIENCING INCARCERATION

KATHERINE A. DURANTE

The University of Utah

EMAN TADROS

Syracuse University

CANDIS BRAXTON

Northcentral University

MELANIE BARBINI

University of Massachusetts Boston

We employ an ABC-X model of family stress theory lens to examine the association between several communication skills

and patterns and relationship quality within heterosexual couples where the man is incarcerated and the woman is not. Using

data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering and multinomial logistic regression, we

found that couples who are regularly able to work out their differences have a lower relative risk of drifting apart in their

relationship. Couples who frequently have heated arguments have both increased relative risks of becoming closer together

and drifting apart. Multivariate linear regression analyses revealed that more frequently having a sense of humor and being

able to work out differences is associated with increased relationship happiness while having more frequent heated arguments

and a partner who interrupts is associated with decreased relationship happiness during incarceration. Prison programs should

include training on improving couples’ communication skills.

Keywords: incarcerated couples; relational maintenance; incarceration; communication; relationship satisfaction; family

stress theory

There were about 1.7 million people incarcerated in prisons or jails in the United States

by year-end in 2020, marking more than a 20% reduction from a decade earlier

(Kluckow & Zeng, 2022). Even so, the United States continues to lead the world in incar-

ceration, impacting the lives of those individuals as well as their family members and

communities. A recent nationally representative survey estimates that 113 million U.S.

adults—nearly half—have had an immediate family member incarcerated at some point

AUTHORS’ NOTE: There is no funding for this project and there are no conflicts of interest to report.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Katherine A. Durante, Department of Sociology,

The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112; e-mail: Katherine.Durante@soc.utah.edu.

1195036CJBXXX10.1177/00938548231195036Criminal Justice and BehaviorDurante et al. / Communication as Protective Factor

research-article2023

1644 CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR

and that 13.5% of adults have had a spouse or coparent incarcerated, even if briefly

(Elderbroom et al., 2018). Although incarceration affects a large swath of Americans, the

impacts of it are uneven; Black Americans are three times more likely than white

Americans to have had a family member incarcerated for a year or longer (Elderbroom

et al., 2018). Furthermore, about 93% of individuals incarcerated are men (Carson, 2021),

disproportionately leaving women partners behind to take care of family and financial

duties. Men enter incarcerated settings with a broad range of romantic relationships as it

has become increasingly rare for incarcerated individuals to get married (Wyse et al.,

2014). About 50% of incarcerated men report being in a committed heterosexual relation-

ship before starting their sentences (Carlson & Cervera, 1991; Comfort et al., 2005).

Strong intimate relationships are imperative to social policy because discord in intimate

relationships is damaging to physical and emotional health and children’s development

(Whisman & Uebelacker, 2006).

Maintaining a romantic and/or coparenting relationship requires a sustained effort

when one of the members is incarcerated (Tadros & Ansell, 2022; Tadros, Durante,

Morgan, & Hutcherson, 2022). For example, strict visitation policies, the often-remote

location of prisons, and the costs associated with visitation and phone calls can be bur-

densome for women seeking to actively communicate with their incarcerated partners

(Boppre et al., 2022; Comfort, 2008; Durante et al., 2022). Barriers to communication

resulting from incarceration may hurt romantic relationships since communication is

the central medium through which couples build and experience their relationships and

address their problems (Burleson et al., 1996). Communication skills play an important

role in the structure and maintenance of romantic relationships (Burleson et al., 1996),

and therefore, supportive communication skills may serve as a protective factor for

relationships when a member of a couple is incarcerated, despite the barriers to rela-

tional maintenance.

In this study, we use an ABC-X model of family stress theory (FST) lens to examine

if supportive communication skills help to mitigate potential harm to relationships

caused by the long distance and stressors of incarceration. Specifically, we examine

how communication skills and patterns may relate to relationship changes and reported

relationship happiness during the period when the male partner is incarcerated, among

heterosexual couples. We expect that couples that exhibit supportive communication

skills and patterns experience increased relative risks of their relationship staying the

same or improving during the incarceration as well as increased levels of happiness in

their relationship. We then go on to discuss the clinical implications of these findings,

including how carceral facilities can help to strengthen intimate relationships and pre-

pare individuals to adapt back into society. We focus on the perspective of the non-

incarcerated partner because the burden of relational maintenance falls on them

(Beckmeyer & Arditti, 2014). Incarcerated partners have restricted agency to make

decisions about phone call plans or in-person visitation, placing the decision-making on

the non-incarcerated partner, who is often the mother of coparented children (Beckmeyer

& Arditti, 2014). In short, the perspective of the non-incarcerated partner is critical

because they control how often and in what medium communication occurs; if they are

dissatisfied with the relationship they may use incarceration as an opportunity to sever

or reduce communication.