Should children visit their parents in prison?

This preliminary note reports clinical interviews at the Oregon State Penitentiary with 22 children, ages 5 through 15, visiting their imprisoned fathers. A majority of these children were found to be socially isolated. All the children placed a high value on the prison visits, but also demonstrated a variety of conflicted feelings about their incarcerated father. These findings highlight the need for more data on children and families of imprisoned parents and for consistent and well-conceptualized policies of family visitation.