BRIEF

“Choose a subtopic within Mass Incarceration to further explore.”

CONTEXT | A project for “Intro to Infographics and Data Visualization” class during the first semester of University of Miami’s Interactive Media graduate program.

ROLE | Designer

TIMELINE | 3 Weeks

INSPIRATION | “The Caging of America” - The New Yorker

After watching the documentary, the question that struck me was

How much does it cost to communicate with an incarcerated loved one?

DIGGING IN

I knew I wanted to tell a serious story with visuals that would provide an emotional or visceral reaction in the reader. I was inspired by Xaquin GV’s graphics in “An Accounting of Daily Gun Deaths” published in the New York Times.

I also was inspired by clarity and color scheme of Deb Pang Davis’ infographic, “Florida: Why Are So Many Seniors Struggling?”

While drawing on emotional inspiration, I also started my research to better understand what financial challenges are associated with phone calls, video calls, and in-person visitation for families with incarcerated loved ones.

I found that The Prison Policy Initiative had conducted research and provided multiple studies and articles on the cost of communicating with those in prison.
• State of Phone Justice
• Separation by Bars and Miles
• The end of American Prison Visits
• Lowering Recidivism Through Family Communication

THE DATA

After doing research, I was able to find data on the following:

• The average income of incarcerated people prior to incarceration is significantly lower than those who are not incarcerated (Prison Policy Initiative: Prisons of Poverty). This means that high communication costs make it prohibitively expensive for those in prison to communicate with their family and legal counsel.

• The average cost of a fifteen-minute call from local jails per state was $5.78 in 2018. (Prison Policy Initiative: State of Phone Justice).

• On average, prisoners are held 100 miles from home if they are in state prison, and 500 miles from home if they are in federal prison (Urban.org: The Price of Keeping Prisoners Hundreds of Miles from Home)

• Multiple references to a 1972 study conducted by scientists Holt and Miller showing a “strong and consistent positive relationship that exists between parole success and maintaining strong family ties while in prison” (Prison Legal News: Lowering Recidivism through Family Communication).

By compiling this research and data I was able to show the financial barriers a family and incarcerated loved one face to keep in touch. Additionally, finding the research that shows that those who are incarcerated and keep in touch with their families are less likely to be show lower rates of recidivism provides a compelling case for there to be fewer barriers to communication.

DRAFTS

By concentrating on the very specific aspect of a prisoner’s access to communication with their family while in jail or prison, I was able to pinpoint the three most common forms of communication – phone calls, video calls, and in-person visits. I wanted to make sure the reader could see details of these three forms and how prohibitively expensive they would be for a low-income family to afford.

After submitting my first hand-drawn sketch, I received feedback that it would be important to show the connection between higher levels of communication and lower levels of recidivism. This led me to adjust the first section of the infographic to include pie charts and “Wee People” comparing prisoners’ average visitor rates with their reincarceration rates.

In my second draft, I opted for a dark color scheme in order to show the gravity of the subject. Shades of green and pink colors felt homey to me – I wanted the colors to reflect the humanity of someone who needed to communicate with their family versus having high concentrations of orange or yellow, which are colors that are often associated with prisoners. I also added a third column to the infographic in order to provide further context on each of the forms of communication.

On my second draft, I received feedback that the infographic felt “busy” and “flat” as well as difficult to read because it lacked a variation of font styles. I was also encouraged to make my illustrations larger in order for them to stand out more and use bold numbers and headers.

This resulted in a more dynamic final draft. The style and colors of the final draft allow the reader to perceive the gravity of the topic as well as the humanity of the prisoners and families impacted.

REFLECTION

• Do extra research to find the humanity in the data. I became deeply invested in this topic after researching and watching the documentary “The Sentence.” Finding out how policies and prices impact families allowed me to show the details of a topic that doesn’t seem to be widely covered.

• Talk to others about the topic. When asking friends about their knowledge on the topic, I was able to hear their perspectives, what they knew, and didn’t know about the topic. One friend expressed surprise and horror at the length families have to travel to visit a loved one in prison. Her reaction helped me to feel confident that my sub-topic needed to be covered.

• Photos, visuals, fonts, and colors matter. I spent a long time adjusting the photograph, drawing illustrations, and choosing a color palette that I felt would reflect the gravity and humanity of the subject matter.