Grieving Behind Bars:
Addressing Bereavement in Correctional Health and Wellness
Rolando Nooks
Conversations about correctional health and wellness often revolve around physical ailments, mental illness, or substance use treatment. Yet one critical aspect of well-being—grief—frequently goes unnoticed behind bars. Losing a loved one while incarcerated can be uniquely devastating because individuals typically cannot attend funerals or observe culturally significant mourning rituals. This article explores how unaddressed grief affects the incarcerated population and highlights practical steps—such as virtual funeral attendance—to support emotional health and foster a more rehabilitative environment.
According to researchers studying incarceration and family life, around 62% of incarcerated individuals will experience the death of a close family member during their sentence (Copp, Giordano, Longmore, & Manning, 2017). Without any formal support or permission to attend memorials, these losses can compound pre-existing mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. In extreme cases, unacknowledged grief may escalate into self-harm or more frequent disciplinary incidents. By integrating bereavement support into overall correctional programming, facilities can alleviate emotional distress, reduce behavioral conflicts, and foster a healthier setting for both residents and staff.
Grief in Incarceration: A Hidden Crisis
Grief is a universal human experience, but in correctional facilities, it’s often magnified by isolation, limited visitation, and highly regulated schedules. Traditional mourning practices—memorials, religious services, or funeral gatherings—are rarely accessible to those serving sentences.
Impact on Mental Health and Behavior
When left unaddressed, grief can deepen existing mental health vulnerabilities. Individuals may experience heightened anger, despair, or emotional numbness, all of which can lead to disciplinary infractions. Staff also face challenges in managing these complicated emotional responses, further straining mental health services and security resources (Carson, 2020).
Pilot Study Insight
One medium-security institution in the Southeastern United States ran a small pilot program offering group counseling and optional virtual memorial attendance for individuals who recently lost loved ones. Over an eight-week period, participants showed a noticeable drop in reported anxiety and a reduction in disciplinary incidents compared to a control group. Although this was a modest sample, the findings suggest that direct, structured bereavement support can significantly ease tension within a facility.
The Role of Virtual Connections in Addressing Grief
Advances in technology now enable some correctional facilities to provide virtual funeral attendance via secure video links. While this option cannot replace the entirety of in-person rituals, it offers a vital chance for emotional closure.
The Role of Virtual Connections in Addressing Grief
Advances in technology now enable some correctional facilities to provide virtual funeral attendance via secure video links. While this option cannot replace the entirety of in-person rituals, it offers a vital chance for emotional closure.
Potential Benefits of Virtual Funeral Attendance
• Emotional Relief—Witnessing a funeral or memorial service, even remotely, helps individuals feel less isolated in their grief and more connected to family.
• Reduced Disciplinary Incidents—Many facilities informally report improvements in incarcerated individuals’ behavior after implementing virtual attendance policies, although large-scale, published studies are limited. The pilot program mentioned above found that those who were able to “attend” services virtually reported fewer emotional outbursts.
• Operational Efficiencies—Transporting an incarcerated person to a funeral is expensive, time-intensive, and poses security risks. Virtual attendance cuts down on these logistical hurdles while still meeting emotional needs.
Linking Family Connections to Wellness
Family ties have long been recognized as critical to successful re-entry and lowered recidivism. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) has documented that people who sustain familial bonds during incarceration often have better behavioral outcomes and are less likely to be re-incarcerated (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2018). In times of grief, these familial connections can be even more important, acting as a buffer against despair.
Family Support During Bereavement
Even simple interactions—a phone call, a livestream, or a video chat—can provide a sense of normalcy and communal support that is otherwise missing in a correctional setting. For many, these opportunities to receive condolences from siblings, children, or parents represent a crucial emotional anchor. By extension, the ability to share memorial moments or talk about shared loss can promote healing and quell the most intense feelings of abandonment that often accompany incarceration.
Implementing Grief Support in Corrections
To build a truly supportive environment, correctional facilities can adopt a multi-pronged strategy for addressing bereavement:
1. Virtual Attendance Policies
• Establish clear eligibility criteria, ensuring fairness in who can “attend” virtual events.
• Designate supervised technology (e.g., a private video booth) for secure, dignified streaming.
• Set clear privacy rules to respect both the grieving individual and the family’s memorial service.
2. Trauma-Informed Training
• Educate staff on recognizing signs of grief (e.g., withdrawal, changes in mood) and respond compassionately rather than punitively.
• Offer ongoing training in de-escalation, mental health first aid, and crisis intervention.
• Encourage continued professional development so correctional staff stay informed about best practices in trauma care.
3. Collaboration with Community Resources
• Partner with local nonprofits, counselors, and faith-based organizations that specialize in grief and bereavement.
• Provide optional group therapy or peer-led sessions where individuals can share personal stories of loss and coping strategies.
• Consider diverse cultural and religious mourning rituals to ensure inclusivity and respect.
4. Evaluation and Follow-Up
• Use surveys, incident reports, and feedback forums to track the impact of bereavement programs.
• Monitor metrics like disciplinary incidents, self-harm rates, and mental health referrals.
• Adapt and refine policies based on data insights, striving for continuous improvement.
Practical Benefits Beyond Compassion
Grief support programs in correctional institutions are rooted in compassion, but they also deliver tangible benefits:
• Reduced Facility Tension: A supportive approach to emotional distress often leads to fewer conflicts, enhancing overall safety.
• Lower Costs: By minimizing behavioral incidents and mental health crises, facilities can save on resources otherwise spent on emergency interventions.
• Better Community Relations: Demonstrating a commitment to comprehensive care can improve public perception and foster new partnerships.
Ultimately, addressing grief aligns with broader evidence-based rehabilitation practices, promoting personal growth and safer environments for all involved.
Conclusion
Grief does not cease to exist at the gate. In fact, it can escalate when individuals cannot partake in basic mourning rituals. Unrecognized or poorly managed grief contributes to a cycle of emotional turmoil, heightened security concerns, and strained institutional resources. By contrast, providing structured bereavement support—such as virtual funeral attendance, trauma-informed training, and collaboration with specialized community partners—can significantly mitigate these risks.
Research consistently shows that acknowledging emotional distress leads to improved mental health, fewer disciplinary issues, and potentially lower recidivism. If correctional institutions hope to fulfill a rehabilitative mission, they must consider grief and loss part of the holistic well-being equation.
Ensuring someone has the ability to virtually say goodbye to a family member, for instance, can have lasting positive repercussions, both during incarceration and well beyond.
It is time for grief support to become a standard pillar of correctional health and wellness. Taking such steps respects human dignity, advances the rehabilitative goals of the justice system, and contributes to a healthier community of staff and residents alike.
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Rolando Nooks is the Founder of Compassionate Reprieve, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting justice-involved individuals through grief and mental health interventions. He works with correctional facilities nationwide to design programs that respect both institutional security and human dignity. Rolando can be reached at info@compassionatereprieve.org
References
Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2018). Recidivism of prisoners released in 30 states in 2005: Patterns from 2005 to 2010 (NCJ 244205). https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/rprts05p0510_st.pdf
Carson, E. A. (2020). Prisoners in 2019. Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/p19.pdf
Copp, J. E., Giordano, P. C., Longmore, M. A., & Manning, W. D. (2017). Incarceration and family life: Investigating risk factors and consequences. Journal of Family Issues, 38(11), 1532–1552. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0192513X15581660
