In 1999, the U.S. Office of the Inspector General (OIG) studied federal prisoners’ telephone calls in the course of producing its report, Criminal Calls: A Review of the Bureau of Prisons’ Management of Inmate Telephone Privileges. OIG asked the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for studies concerning the effects of prisoners’ telephone calls. The OIG reported:

The BOP later provided the OIG eight studies conducted by other researchers which it believes establish that inmates “telephone usage and other contacts with family contribute to inmate moral, better staff-inmate interactions, and more connection to the community, which in turn has made them less likely to return to prison.” However, the few of these studies that address telephones merely suggest that they can be used as a means for the inmates to maintain contact with their families, without any comprehensive analysis. In addition, while recognizing the problems of misuse of the telephones, they do not address whether inmates are more likely to use the telephone for positive purposes, or for criminal purposes.^

Important subsequent reports have referred to this review. In the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s docket concerning inmate telephone rates, the Ad Hoc Coalition for the Right to Communicate declared:

Studies show that “telephone usage and other contacts with family contribute to inmate morale, better staff-inmate interactions, and more connection to the community, which in turn has made them less likely to return to prison,” (ft 52) U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Criminal Calls: A Review of the Bureau of Prisons’ Management of Inmate Telephone Privileges, Ch. II, n.6 (Aug. 1999)^

A report of the American Bar Association, Criminal Justice Section, in 2005 stated:

Telephone access can be a critical component of a prisoner’s successful transition to a productive, law-abiding life after leaving prison. (ft 3) See, e.g., U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Criminal Calls: A Review of the Bureau of Prisons’ Management of Inmate Telephone Privileges, Ch. II, n.6 (Aug. 1999), available at http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/9908/callsp2.htm (last accessed 30 January 2005)(“telephone usage and other contacts with family contribute to inmate morale, better staff-inmate interactions, and more connection to the community, which in turn has made them less likely to return to prison….”) and State of Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Time in Prison: The Adult Institutions, p. 5 (2004).^

A plausible, common-sense belief is that prisoners’ communication with family and friends, including telephone communication, help prisoners cope with the many challenges they face after being released from prison. As the above quotations and further study indicate, social-scientific research provides weak reason for that belief.