An exploratory survey of visitors to two men's prisons finds that the visitors differ in some significant ways from prisoners' families previously described in the literature. The results raise some questions about the correlation that has been established between visits and post-release success and provoke suggestions for in-depth research into visitor/prisoner relationships.

This manuscript, as revised, was published as: Schafer, N.E. (1994). "Exploring the Link between Visits and Parole Success: A Survey of Prison Visitors." International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 38(1): 17–31 (Spring 1994). (http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0306624X9403800103)