Why Ask About Family?
By looking beyond the individual to families and social supports,
corrections officers can help improve public safety and other outcomes.
A Guide for Corrections
Working in corrections can be rewarding. But it is also
extremely challenging. The daily demands don’t always
leave room to think about the families of people who
are in jail or prison. Yet families and other social supports can help individuals succeed while they are incarcerated and afterward, leading to better outcomes for
the facility and greater public safety.
Corrections professionals can help—without starting
new programs or taking on additional tasks—just by
adopting a few simple concepts, tools, and techniques.
This guide describes the principles of a strength-based,

Contents
What Is a Strength-Based, Family-Focused
Approach?...............................................................2
Focusing on the resources in people’s social networks
can make a difference now and during the reentry
process.
Changing the Conversation.....................................2
Asking key questions can help give you a clearer picture of people’s lives and what they need to
succeed.

family-focused approach in corrections practices, policy,
and reentry planning that can make a difference. It was
developed for correctional administrators, case managers, reentry and discharge planners, treatment-team
members, institutional parole officers, and other personnel working in and around jails, prisons, and other
corrections institutions.
What does supportive contact with
family look like?

Thinking About People in Context..........................3
A few simple tools can show incarcerated people and
their families in a context beyond jail or prison.
Tapping Social Networks.........................................4
When people focus on the strengths in their social
networks, the whole family stands to gain.
Frequently Asked Questions...................................5
From Intake to Release: Using a Strength-Based,
Family-Focused Approach.......................................6

> While in prison, Frank talks with his son by phone
about his homework.
> When Donna is about to come home from jail, her
pastor brings her a list of N.A. meetings in their
community and offers to go with her.
> Even though Miguel’s grandmother is unable to visit,
she accepts his collect calls and writes to him every
week. Miguel knows that she is in his corner, and he
plans to live with her when he gets out.

>	Intake and Needs/Risk Assessment
>	Correctional Programming
>	Visitation
>	Reentry and Release Planning

Family Justice Program

WHAT IS A STRENGTH-BASED, FAMILY-FOCUSED APPROACH?
A strength-based approach to working with incarcerated people
>	identifies the individuals and organizations that can help them address
the challenges in their lives;
>	guides incarcerated individuals to tap these those resources;
>	emphasizes what is going right instead of what is going wrong; and
>	builds on people’s skills and talents to reinforce their positive behavior
and help them achieve their goals. (Research shows that positive reinforcement is more successful than negative reinforcement in changing
behavior.1)
A family-focused approach
>	considers individuals in the context of their family, broadly defined, and
>	regards the functioning and well-being of every person as affecting the
well-being of other members of a family or social network.
Corrections professionals can help incarcerated people to draw on their natural
support system and recognize a broader array of available resources. Encouraging incarcerated individuals to maintain positive ties and draw on their social
networks helps them prepare for a successful return to the community.

Defining “Family”
Broadly
Family may include
traditional and nontraditional members.
This may mean
friends, significant
others, clergy, coworkers, or other
important people in
one’s social network.

CHANGING THE CONVERSATION
Strength-based, family-focused work involves asking individuals about the promising and positive aspects of their
lives and the people who are important to them. Try using supportive inquiry, which is exactly what it sounds like:
asking questions that demonstrate your support.
Ask questions that can help identify people who are
on their side.
>	Who helps you?
>	Who stays in touch with you?

>	What keeps you going?

>	Who is there for you?

>	How have you managed?

Ask open-ended questions that keep the
conversation going.
>	What is going well for you?
>	Who will be supportive when you go home?
>	Who will rely on you?

2

If you have the opportunity to talk with family members or other supportive visitors, acknowledge that
their contact with the incarcerated person is important.
You might ask:

Why Ask About Family?

>	What will make the transition easier when your
son [granddaughter, boyfriend, father, etc.]
comes home? Who can help you and your family
with this?
The most effective questions reflect a genuine interest
without expressing judgment or using labels.

THINKING ABOUT PEOPLE IN CONTEXT
Like all of us, individuals who are incarcerated have many facets. We all reveal different aspects of ourselves depending on
the circumstances. Using a strength-based approach when working with incarcerated individuals can help them to focus on
their positive qualities—those that are likely to motivate good behavior. This may not be easy to do within the context of a
jail or prison. But the following simple tools can help.
An ecomap is a diagram of formal and informal resources
available to the incarcerated individual and his or her family.
Formal resources may include child welfare agencies, parole supervision, public assistance, or a health clinic; informal options include a church or mosque, a sports team, or
a 12-step group.
When used in reentry planning, an ecomap can lead to a
discussion about the person’s current connections and the
connections they expect to have in the community. The process of creating an ecomap can bring to light conflicts, highlight the need for coordination of services, or reveal sources
of support that might be tapped in new ways.
A genogram is a diagram of a family, broadly defined, that
includes information about age, gender, and relationships,
as well as family members’ education, employment, and
involvement in government systems. It is similar to a family tree, but can include nontraditional family members as
well as visual representations of people’s skills and other
strengths.
The Relational Inquiry Tool is a list of eight carefully crafted
questions supported by a training module.2 Family Justice
created the tool for corrections staff who provide day-today case management and develop reentry plans. The Relational Inquiry Tool complements standard risk and needs
assessments by helping staff learn about families and social
networks—key resources for successful reentry.
The goals of the tool are to
>	provide staff with an easy way to recognize and reinforce a person’s positive connections to family and
social networks during and after incarceration, and
>	build rapport between the professional using the tool
and the incarcerated individual.

sample Ecomap
Health
Clinic
Child
Welfare

House of
Worship

Godmother

FAMILY

Public
Housing
Job
Training
Program

Probation
or
Parole

Drug
Treatment
Agency

“The Relational Inquiry Tool’s questions—‘Who helped you?’ and ‘How
did you help your family before you
came to prison?’—make [people]
­remember that they’re part of a
society and part of a family. I think
it makes them understand that they
have support out there, but also that
they can be supportive, too.”
—Correctional Case Manager, O
­ hio Department
of Rehabilitation and Correction

3

TAPPING SOCIAL NETWORKS
It is not enough to identify families and social networks as important resources.
Corrections staff can also help people access that support—both during incarceration and after their return to the community.
>	By strengthening social support, family visits can lead
to better outcomes. Research shows that visits from supportive
loved ones during incarceration can reduce and delay recidivism, especially when visits occur in the months leading up to release.3

>	emotional and financial
support,

>	It is important to understand the barriers that may
keep loved ones from visiting. Families often face obstacles to
maintaining contact with an incarcerated loved one. They may, for example, lack transportation or information about visitation policies.4 Visiting an
incarcerated loved one can also have significant social costs. Corrections
professionals may want to consider how their facility’s policies and practices could make visitation easier.

>	assessment of behavior and
positive reinforcement,

>	Family support plays an important role in successful
reentry. 5 Upon release, many individuals go home to communities
characterized by poverty and the associated problems of crime, violence,
substance use, and HIV/AIDS or other chronic illnesses.6 Under such difficult circumstances, support from a social network can help motivate and
guide positive behavior.
Incarceration can weaken or even end important relationships. Corrections agencies may offset some such unintended consequences by developing and instituting policies that help incarcerated people to maintain
positive social ties.
>	Incarceration affects the entire family. As one study
concluded, “Criminal justice involvement impacts the life of a family in
deep ways: it strains them financially, disrupts parental bonds, separates
spouses, places severe stress on the remaining caregivers, leads to a loss
of discipline in the household, and leads to feelings of shame, stigma,
and anger.”7
>	Most people who are incarcerated are parents. 8 Because
parents have a critical influence on their children’s development, corrections professionals can play an important role by supporting positive
family ties. Children of incarcerated parents are more likely to exhibit low
self-esteem, troubled behavior at school and at home, and isolation or
withdrawal.9 They are also at a significantly higher risk for behavior problems and involvement with the juvenile justice system.10

4

Families and social networks
can provide

Why Ask About Family?

>	connection to potential
employers upon reentry,

>	child care and elder care,
>	housing and transportation
upon reentry,
>	reconnection and reintegration to the community,
and
>	monitoring of symptoms
and changes in health.

“The fact that people
are maintaining contact with their family
has a settling effect
on them. It creates less
misconduct. It creates a
calmer yard.”
—Justin Jones, director,
Oklahoma Department of
Corrections

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
“Working with families would be like doubling
my caseload. How can I take this on?”
>	Doing family-focused work does not require additional
ser­vices or expertise. Nobody is trying to turn corrections
professionals into social workers. The tools and methods de­
scribed here build on what you are probably already doing.
>	Even if you don’t meet their family members, you can
help individuals incarcerated at your facility think about
the resources in their social network. Just asking them a
few questions can help to identify skills, talents, positive behaviors, and successful coping mechanisms of
people in their lives. By helping them to mobilize those
strengths, you and your colleagues can empower incarcerated people to grow and change.

“How do you know this works?”
>	An evaluation of Family Justice’s approach to case management found it effective among individuals who have
a history of drug use and are involved with the justice
system. This approach also benefited their families.11
>	Strength-based, family-focused work makes intuitive
sense—and may be best understood by thinking about
your own family and support network. Think about who
influences and encourages you—and who relies on you.
In most cases, it is family and loved ones. (See page
4.) When our perception of people does not include
their family, we may be ignoring the most important
influ­ences in their lives. Not only can the family provide
resources and support, but individuals may be more
motivated when they want to fulfill responsibilities to the
people close to them.
>	By encouraging people to seek solutions and resources
within their family and community, this approach can
help reduce reliance on costly social services.

“What if a person’s family is a source of stress
and not support?”
>	Unfortunately, that is sometimes the case. Pay attention
if a person becomes agitated when talking about family
or seems upset after having contact with loved ones. You
may have an opportunity to discuss what is going on and
explore constructive alternatives.

>	If someone cannot identify any supportive relatives, ask
about other significant relationships. Remember to think
about “family” in broad terms.
>	Relationships are dynamic and have the potential to
change. Encourage people to stay connected during
challenging times and to communicate with individuals
who have been supportive in the past.

“Most families have their own problems. How
are they supposed to help?”
>	Even seemingly fragile families have strengths and re­­
sources. Knowing about a person’s social network can help
you develop a more realistic and effective reentry plan.
>	The families of people who are incarcerated are often
involved in other systems, such as drug treatment, public
housing, child welfare, or the justice system. Acknowledging such circumstances is a fundamental part of the
family-focused approach; it is important to consider a
person in the context of the family and community, and
to look at the family as a unit.
>	Family members typically know each other best and they
will be there through good times and bad—including long
after incarceration and community supervision have ended.
>	Corrections professionals are not expected to understand
all the behavioral dynamics of a family. Keep in mind that
these factors may affect people when they go home. If the
traditional family has had harmful or abusive interactions,
remember to think of “family” broadly, to include other
supportive members of a person’s social network.

“Does a family-focused approach blur the
boundaries between staff and people who are
incarcerated?”
>	No. Adopting a strength-based, family-focused approach
does not mean compromising professional boundaries.
It means helping people identify their own strengths,
resources, skills, and healthy patterns of behavior—as well
as those positive qualities in their social networks.
>	This approach contributes to an atmosphere of mutual
re­spect. It requires a willingness to see people in a broad
con­text and to recognize the many roles they play, such
as that of parents, neighbors, friends, and members of a
con­gregation.

5

FROM INTAKE TO RELEASE: Using a Strength-Based, Family-Focused Approach
Corrections professionals in various positions and at all levels of management or administration can take steps to enhance
their practice. Staff can apply strength-based, family-focused language, procedures, and programming in numerous ways,
from intake through release. This section presents ideas you can adapt for your department or facility.
Intake and Needs/Risk Assessment
A person’s first contact with corrections staff is a key opportunity to use a different approach. Asking about strengths and family connections at intake can elicit
information staff can use in making decisions about facility placement and program assignments. Strength-based language about the family can enhance risk
and needs assessments. Learning about individuals’ abilities and social supports,
as well as their challenges and needs, can help staff develop more appropriate
programming plans.
Asking about strengths and about family is valuable in other ways too. The act
of asking these types of questions can build rapport by establishing a tone of
mutual respect.12
The following checklist can gauge your facility’s or agency’s readiness to integrate a strength-based, family-focused approach during intake and needs/risk
assessment.

Consider incorporating
strength-based, family-focused
language in
>	orientation manuals for new
prisoners, parolees, and
probationers,
>	intake and evaluation forms,
>	visitation manuals,
>	academy training for criminal
justice professionals, and
>	job descriptions.

Do your intake, assessment, and case management tools . . .



obtain information about the strengths of families and other supportive people?



use a broad definition of family that includes friends, extended family, and
other significant people?



ask people to identify resources in their social network, such as someone
who can assist with a job search, provide temporary housing, or recommend local health services?



emphasize the individual’s strengths when developing plans for treatment,
programming, and release?



consider how age, gender, disability, and cultural factors play a role?



ask about individuals’ motivation? Encourage them to recognize and meet
their responsibilities to their families?



use open-ended questions to gather information?

Also:



Are forms completed collaboratively through conversation, rather than by
handing them to each individual?



Do policies prioritize the placement of individuals at facilities that are close
to their family?

6

Why Ask About Family?

“While reducing and
managing risk and
addressing the incarcerated person’s needs
may well be what is
required for successful
parole discharge, we
need to build upon the
incarcerated person’s
strengths if we are to
expect success in the
community after parole
supervision has been
completed.”
—Dennis Schrantz, former
deputy director, Policy and
Strategic Planning, Michigan
Department of Corrections

FROM INTAKE TO RELEASE: Using a Strength-Based, Family-Focused Approach
Correctional Programming
A strength-based, family-focused approach to correctional
programming may improve people’s well-being and increase their chance of success upon reentry.13
Use the checklist below to assess how well your programming focuses on strengths and social supports.



Do in-service staff trainings and new-staff orientations
address the role of family and social networks?



Do programming compliance policies include strategies and methods that reinforce positive behavior (and
not just punish negative behavior)?



Does programming encourage individuals to identify
and develop their talents and strengths?



Do health-related programs involve family members
(with appropriate consent) in the individual’s care?

Visitation
As discussed earlier, visitation and other communication
during incarceration can have a positive effect on individuals and their loved ones. Correctional professionals and facilities can adopt policies and practices that reduce barriers
to family contact and encourage supportive family involvement.
The checklist below identifies ways to enhance visitation
policies and practices to effectively tap family support.



Is contact with families and other important members
of people’s social networks built into their routines?



Does the facility send information about visitation to
family members and other supportive people?



Is contact with family and other loved ones encouraged
and supported, rather than used as leverage (such as
by revoking privileges such as visits or phone calls)?

 Do visitation policies allow for contact with appropriate
people outside the individual’s immediate family, such
as neighbors, friends, clergy, and community members?





Is video teleconferencing available to facilitate communication with loved ones who are far away or cannot
visit?



Are telephone fees reasonable so that individuals can
make relatively frequent calls?



In making staffing decisions for reception and visitation areas, are interpersonal skills considered (such as
the ability to work well with families)?

Reentry and Release Planning
The process of preparing people to return to the community may be the most important part of correctional case
management. Effective planning takes into account factors such as stable housing, employment, health care, and
addiction treatment. Families often provide or assist with
these things. One prominent study found, for example, that
individuals interviewed four to eight months after their release cited family support as the most important factor in
helping them stay out of prison.14
Does release planning . . .



begin early during a person’s incarceration, and is it
reassessed depending on individual and family
circumstances?



emphasize and build on the strengths of the
individual?



consider the context of the person’s family and community and explore the resources available to everyone involved?



involve supportive members of the family, broadly
defined?



encourage people to identify and connect with family
members and community resources, rather than relying solely on government programs?



involve policies and procedures for sharing relevant
family-related information with community corrections
professionals?

Is free or low-cost transportation to the facility available for visitors?

7

ENDNOTES
1	

Addiction Technology & Transfer Center National Office, “Are Clients, Not
Treatment Methods, the Key to Creating Lasting Behavior Change?” The ATTC
Networker 7, 2 (2005): 10, 15.

7	

R. Barreras, E. Drucker, and D. Rosenthal, “The Concentration of Substance Use,
Criminal Justice Involvement, and HIV/AIDS in the Families of Drug Offenders,”
Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine (2005).

2	

With support from the National Institute of Corrections, the Relational Inquiry
Tool was developed in partnership with state departments of corrections in
Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, and Oklahoma as well as the Safer Foundation
in Chicago. See also M. diZerega and C. Shapiro, “Asking About Family Can
Enhance Reentry,” Corrections Today 69 no. 6 (2007): 58-61.

8	

Approximately half of men and almost two thirds of women in prisons and jails
have children. In 1999, about 1.5 million minor children had a parent who was
incarcerated. J. Travis, A. L. Solomon, and M. Waul, From Prison to Home: The
Dimensions and Consequences of Prisoner Reentry (Washington, DC: Urban
Institute, 2001).

3	

W. D. Bales and D. P. Mears, “Inmate Social Ties and the Transition to Society:
Does Visitation Reduce Recidivism?” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 45 no. 3 (2008): 287-321. (In this article, family was defined broadly, and
the effect of visitation on desistance was similar for traditional and nontraditional family members).

9	

K. Gabel and D. Johnston (Eds.), Children of Incarcerated Parents (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc, 1995).

4	

5	

6	

J. R. Christian, “Riding the Bus: Barriers to Prison Visitation and Family Management Strategies,” Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 21 no. 1 (2005): 3148; see also J. R. Christian, J. B. Mellow, and S. Thomas, “Social and Economic
Implications of Family Connections to Prisoners,” Journal of Criminal Justice 34
(2006): 443-452.
N. G. La Vigne, C. Visher, and J. L. Castro, Chicago Prisoners’ Experiences
Returning Home (Research Brief) (Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, Justice
Policy Center, 2004).
In 1996, approximately two-thirds of individuals leaving state prisons reentered
communities at the urban core of metropolitan areas that were suffering economically in comparison to surrounding areas. See J. P. Lynch and W. J. Sabol,
Prisoner Reentry in Perspective (Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2001).

10	 D. Johnston, “Effects of Parental Incarceration” in Children of Incarcerated Parents, edited by K. Gabel and D. Johnston (New York: Lexington Books, 1995),
59-88.
11	 E. Sullivan, M. Mino, K. Nelson, and J. Pope, Families as a Resource in Recovery
from Drug Abuse: An Evaluation of La Bodega de la Familia (New York: Vera
Institute of Justice, 2002).
12	 M. diZerega and C. Shapiro, “Asking About Family Can Enhance Reentry,” Corrections Today 69 no. 6 (2007): 58-61.
13	 S. Lawrence, D. P. Mears, G. Dubin, and J. Travis, The Practice and Promise of
Prison Programming (Research Brief) (Washington, DC: The Urban Institute,
Justice Policy Center, 2002).
14	 N. G. La Vigne, C. Visher, and J. L. Castro, Chicago Prisoners’ Experiences
Returning Home (Research Brief) (Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, Justice
Policy Center, 2004).

For More Information…
The Family Justice Program provides extensive training and strategic support to government and community partners to help them effectively draw on the resources of families and communities. These systemic interventions are
designed to benefit people at greatest risk of cycling in and out of the justice system.
The Family Justice Program is a part of the Vera Institute of Justice, an independent nonprofit organization that combines expertise in research, demonstration projects, and technical assistance to help leaders in government and civil
society improve the systems people rely on for justice and safety.
This project was supported by Grant No. 2007-DD-BX-K476 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau
of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for
Victims of Crime. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not represent the official
position or policies of the United States Department of Justice.
© Vera Institute of Justice 2011. All rights reserved.
For more information, contact Margaret diZerega at mdizerega@vera.org or (212) 376-3082.

233 Broadway, 12th Floor

Tel: (212) 334-1300

New York, NY 10279

Fax: (212) 941-9407
www.vera.org