oa Het sociale netwerk van gedetineerden voorafgaand aan detentie - Een vergelijking met de Nederlandse bevolking

People with whom we discuss important personal matters – i.e. the core discussion network – are important for providing help and support as well as influencing behaviour. This is the first study that describes and compares the core discussion network of prisoners prior to incarceration with that of the Dutch population. Differences in their networks have been analysed in terms of network structure, relationship quality and embedded socioeconomic resources. We used unique network data from the Prison Project (n = 1909) and the Survey of the Social Networks of the Dutch (SSND; n = 394). The results show that compared with people in the general population, prior to incarceration, prisoners have a core discussion network that is similar or - in some respects - even more favourable in terms of structure and relationship quality. However, prisoners seem to have less embedded socioeconomic resources in their core discussion networks.