This analysis first appeared on The Conversation.
DENVER | The Adams County Jail does not allow in-person visits. Over the course of their incarceration, people detained there will never share a visiting room with their families and children, or even sit across from them behind a plexiglass barrier.
The jail serves about one-third of Aurora’s population.
As in nearly all county jails across Colorado’s Front Range and a growing number of county jails across the U.S., visits happen only over video — on a phone, tablet or computer — for a per-minute fee.
A group of families are now challenging the Adams County ban in court, arguing it violates their right to maintain family associations under the Colorado Constitution. The plaintiffs include children as young as 4 years old. Their lawsuit is part of a national effort targeting jails with similar policies.
Video visitation can be a lifeline for family members when distance, work schedules or travel costs make in-person visits difficult. When video visitation is run well, visitors may appreciate avoiding security screenings, long waits and the harsh correctional environment. But many still miss physical touch with their loved one.
Technological glitches, limited privacy and fees can also make video visitation less than ideal. For these reasons, best-practice guidance from criminal justice policy organizations recommends video as a supplement to in-person visitation, not a complete replacement.
As researchers who study visitation in correctional settings, our role is not to say how the courts should rule. But the Adams County case raises an important question we’ve spent much of our careers examining: What impacts do in-person visits have on incarcerated people and their families?
The answer is not as straightforward as it might seem. Many incarcerated people receive no visits at all. For those who do, visits can be enormously beneficial for them and their loved ones. But the benefits are not the same for everyone — they depend on the environments in which visits occur, the preexisting relationships between incarcerated people and their visitors, and what happens during the visits themselves.
Temporary relief from the pain of separation
For many incarcerated people, separation from family and friends is one of the most painful aspects of life behind bars. Visits can offer temporary relief from that separation and provide a unique chance for families to connect face-to-face.
For a little while, incarcerated people can get a break from their identity as a prisoner and act as a parent, son, daughter, partner, sibling or friend again. Visits also break up the monotony of confinement and give incarcerated people something to look forward to — so much so that correctional facilities commonly use visitation as an incentive for good behavior.
Visits, and the support they provide, can help people cope better with being incarcerated. Those who are visited commit fewer serious rule violations and also report less psychological distress. Visitation is also associated with less reoffending after release, as the relationships people maintain during confinement are the ones they can rely on during reentry to help with housing, employment and staying out of trouble.
Family-friendly rooms are a rarity in US jails
Correctional settings are not designed for comfort — they are designed for security. Razor wire, steel doors, surveillance cameras and uniformed officers typically surround daily life inside, and firm rules govern nearly all aspects of in-person visitation.
For visitors, it is not uncommon to pass through metal detectors, submit to intrusive physical searches, follow strict dress codes and wait for hours within facilities. This process can be intimidating, and some visitors come away feeling disrespected or treated like prisoners themselves. These burdens can discourage families from returning and, in some cases, contribute to their decision not to visit at all.
What an in-person visit looks like varies widely from facility to facility. In some settings, families sit together in a room. In others, visits are “noncontact,” meaning families are separated by a physical barrier and must communicate through a phone or speaker. Incarcerated people and their visitors have more positive experiences when they can sit side by side, embrace and share food or games. They have more negative experiences when physical contact is not allowed.
Family-friendly visiting rooms — spaces with comfortable seating, toys or activities for children and opportunities for families to interact more naturally — are rare in U.S. jails.
Unlike prisons, jails are designed for short-term detention rather than prolonged confinement. They mainly hold people who have not yet been convicted of a crime, such as those awaiting trial, along with those detained for low-level offenses or probation violations. Jail populations turn over rapidly as people are booked, released and transferred. Faced with this churn – as well as staffing, security and contraband-control concerns – many jails invest little in family visitation. When in-person visits are offered, they most commonly are noncontact, an arrangement that is easier for jails to manage.
Still, these conditions can take a toll on visitors. Partners may struggle to have meaningful conversations through glass. For children, restrictions on movement and touch can make visits difficult. Additionally, having little to keep them occupied can leave children restless and fussy.
Visits can bring comfort … or reopen old wounds
Visits are shaped by both the relationships families bring with them and what they do with their limited time together. In one of our studies, family members described highs and lows with their loved ones long before incarceration. In another, visitors described relationships ranging from “close” and “loving” to “strained” and “terrible,” with some carrying hurt, anger or mistrust into visits. Strong relationships may make it easier for visitors to offer reassurance, affection and practical support, whereas fraught relationships can make visits less comforting or reopen emotional wounds.
Jails in the U.S. have become a front-line response for people with unmet mental health and substance-use needs. Such needs often weigh on family relationships and shape what happens during visits. Some visits consist mainly of “family time,” catching up or sharing news, while others take on harder tasks. Families may voice long-held frustrations, challenge incarcerated people to “step up” to their responsibilities, talk about change and set expectations for the future. These harder visits may be more likely to cause distress for all those involved, but they can also help families address unresolved problems.
In this way, visits can serve as a makeshift form of family therapy, with families confronting problems of addiction, parenthood and mental health under conditions that are far from ideal. These conversations can be tense and emotional, but, ultimately, they can be how families repair bonds, settle the past and prepare for a loved one’s return.
This story was made available via the Colorado News Collaborative. Learn more at https://www.google.com/url?q=https://colabnews.co&source=gmail-imap&ust=1786994399000000&usg=AOvVaw2DWqMcezot4yJKu816dMVi