From CBC News
A prison inmate who stays connected with family and gets to see them while in jail has a better chance of turning their life around once they get out, but for some whose loved-ones are incarcerated, significant challenges stand in the way of visits.
Research has shown that getting to see family can be very beneficial for prisoners. A 2008 study published in the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, for example, says the chances of an inmate re-offending dropped 31 per cent among those who received visits during the year prior to their release.
The number of visits also had a notable impact - each visit reduced their odds of re-offending after release by about 4 per cent.
"People outside, they probably just see us as criminals,” says Nathan Trudeau, who is serving time in Ontario’s Warkworth institution for armed robbery.
“They don't look at us like human beings. They think that our lives don't matter and we change as soon as the door's locked, but we're people too. We're convicts, we've done bad things, but some of us plan to change."
And while visits can help bolster that desire to change, they can also help the families of inmates in return...
...Read the rest here.
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