Samenvatting

Not only detainees, but also their spouses can experience negative consequences of imprisonment. Even though these negative consequences can be far-reaching, research in this area is scarce. This paper researches if detention causes female partners of male detainees in the Netherlands to experience negative reactions from family, friends and neighbours and if this causes changes in their social contacts. This study used longitudinal data from the Prison Project on 119 partners of detainees. Results show that many partners of detainees receive negative reactions from their network members. When partners of detainees experience negative reactions from their family in law, friends or neighbours, their contacts with those groups decrease. When partners of detainees experience negative reactions from their friends, their contact with their family increases.