Recidivism & The Importance Of Family
Want to do everything you can to make sure your family member never goes back to jail or prison? Then be the family you are to them. Ok, maybe it hasn’t been good between you. Maybe they’ve hurt you or been estranged. It doesn’t matter. This is the time to shine as a mother, father, son, daughter, sister or brother.
Here’s the thing: Fifty years of empirical evidence proves you can change the trajectory of the life of someone you care about. So, do you have a family member or close friend in long term incarceration?
Do this:
VISIT: Be a constant in their lives. One study on visitation found that inmates with no visitors during their incarceration were six times more likely to be reincarcerated. At the same time, inmates who receive visitors have better adherence to prison rules, reducing prison misconduct charges. Even one additional visit per month showed a reduction in misconduct by 14 percent and triggered a reduced time-served by 11 percent.
Can't visit? PHONE: Family phone calls are also shown to reduce the likelihood of recidivism, and those who received consistent and frequent calls were found to have the lowest odds of returning to prison. A 2014 study of incarcerated women found that those who had any regular phone contact with a family member were less likely to be reincarcerated within five years after their release.
Wrote one former inmate: I had no idea what I was gonna do in prison, but the one thing I did know, was that I had family. It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed at what you have in front of you—the mountain that you have to climb to prove yourself and believe that you’re worthy of a second chance. Family for me was the number one motivator. It’s what kept me trying.
When a family member or close friend is incarcerated, it is one of the great opportunities of a lifetime to forgive past issues and show them love and friendship through visits, phone calls, and letters. (Yes, one of the best things you can do is to write letters or emails, which I'll cover in my next post.)
The research is clear: visitation, phone calls, mail, and other forms of contact between incarcerated people and their families have positive impacts for everyone, including closer family ties, better health, reduced recidivism, and improvement in school. Says Matthew 5:36, “I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
Now go and do likewise,
Nancy
