Inside the Black Box: Prison Visitation, the Costs of Offending, and Inmate Social Capital

The current study investigates how visitation affects inmates’ social capital and whether it influences inmates’ perceptions of costs incurred by their family members and friends as a result of incarceration. We use data from a recent survey of male prisoners to examine different aspects of visitation, such as types of visitors and frequency of visitation. The findings suggest that prison visitation contributes to the maintenance of inmates’ social capital and could potentially shape their perceptions of the informal costs of reoffending. Regular visitation during incarceration may play a crucial role in successful reentry.