Changes in the social networks of prisoners: A comparison of their networks before and after imprisonment

Abstract

This study examines the social networks of detainees before and after their incarceration. We use unique panel data on 702 detainees and their core discussion networks. Our results show that while the size of the core discussion network remains stable, detainees have replaced more than 60% of their network members after incarceration. By far not all new core network members are truly new: in particular friendship ties have a higher change to deteriorate and be replaced by ties to relatives. We estimate multinomial multilevel models and find, moreover, that changes in the core discussion network are most likely to occur for detainees who have served a longer prison spell, who did not return to the same place of residence, who had fewer strong or family relationships, and who were suspected of involvement in a violent or sexual offense.