A New Role for Technology: The Impact of Video Visitation

• NCJ Number: 251582
• Author(s): Léon Digard
• Date Published: January 2018
• Length: 10 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2012-IJ-CX-0035
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Evaluation; Program/Project Description
• Award: A New Role for Technology: The Impact of Video Visitation on Corrections Staff, Prisoners, and their Families

Annotation

The methodology and findings are reported for a study of the implementation and outcome/impact of video visitation for prison inmates in Washington State, which installed video visitation in state prisons during 2013 and 2014.

Abstract

Overall, the study found that use of the video-visit services was linked to a significant increase in the number of in-person visits inmates received; however, use of the service was low. During the study period, 11.5 percent of the study sample used the video-visit service at least once. Interviews and surveys indicated that the low rate of use was due, in part, to service cost and dissatisfaction with its quality. Visitors pay $12.95 for a 30-minute video visit, a cost in line with national averages. Regular and high users of the service experienced a 40-49 percent increase in the number of in-person visits they received. The video-visitation program did not have a significant impact on in-prison behavior, as measured by rule violations. The study recommends that video visitation, although a positive supplement to services available to incarcerated people, should not replace in-person visits, as has occurred in some local jails. The distance between prison locations and the inmates' communities is a significant barrier to more frequent in-person inmate visits. Departments of corrections must address this issue in order to facilitate a significant increase in inmate visits. A listing of 3 related reports and upcoming scholarly products