Carceral Geography and the Spatialities of Prison Visiting: Visitation, Recidivism and Hyperincarceration

Geography, as a disciplinary lens, brings a valuable perspective to the study of the carceral, and carceral geography’s concern for the spatial could provide a new explanatory perspective to the consideration of some accepted tenets within criminology, whilst at the same time offering a productive and useful ‘grounding’ of contemporary geographies of emotion and affect. In the context of hyperincarceration and the carceral continuum of recidivism and repeated re-imprisonment, this paper considers the long-observed relationship between prison visitation and reduced recidivism, posits prison visiting rooms as under-researched carceral spaces, and develops theoretical and methodological innovations which nuance the understanding of prison visiting.