Content Analysis of Death Row Inmate Pen Pal Profiles

Abstract

Past qualitative research in incarcerated populations has demonstrated the importance of identity construction in contributing to crime desistance. However, little is known regarding how these themes may be relevant to a specific prison subpopulation without potential for recidivism: death row inmates. Furthermore, few studies have examined how online prisoner pen-pal websites serve as a platform through which to cultivate and convey self-narratives, and have solely utilized qualitative methods. This quantitative content analysis explored self-presentation of male death row inmates via a census sample of profiles posted on WriteAPrisoner.com (k = 98). Analyses revealed that 20% of inmates claimed innocence and effectively solicited higher sympathy ratings, and those using positive self-appraisals dissociating oneself from the crime or indicating growth during incarceration were rated as more optimistic than those who did not. Findings provide insight into how self-presentation strategies are utilized among death row prisoners, potentially to maximize opportunities for successful social connection.

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RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION DESIGN © 2019
www.PosterPresentations.com
INTRODUCTION
Sample
❖Census sample (k= 98) of male, death row inmate pen-pal profiles from
WriteAPrisoner.com
❖Age (M= 45.05, SD = 8.59). Time served (M= 20.27, SD = 1.64).
❖56 African American, 22 Caucasian, 12 Hispanic/Latino, 2 American
Indian/Alaskan Native, 2 multiracial, 3 declared as “other”, 1 not declared
Measures and Procedure
❖Full codebook available upon request. Variables (and values):
❖Pleas for nonjudgement: 0 (absent), 1 (present)
❖Mentions of personal growth: 0 (absent), 1 (present)
❖Mentions of wrongful conviction: 0 (absent), 1 (present)
❖Indication of hobbies/activities (coded separately for physical
activity, cultural, social, religious, academic): 0 (absent), 1 (present)
❖Activities composite variable (sum of five coded activity mentions)
❖Sympathy: 1 (not sympathetic at all) to 5 (very sympathetic)
❖Optimism: 1 (very pessimistic) to 5 (very optimistic)
❖Profiles coded by two independent graduate-student raters, intraclass
coefficients and Cohen’s kappa values all good-excellent. Coding
disagreements settled via discussion.
METHODS
RESULTS
CONCLUSIONS
❖Self-definition attributions and pleas for non-judgement appear ineffective in eliciting sympathy, whereas claiming wrongful conviction
does predict higher sympathy ratings –indicating a propensity for compassion towards prisoners who claim they are
innocent.
❖Mentioning personal growth significantly predicted optimism ratings – perhaps speaking to a ‘hopefulness’ conveyed by having
learned and grown from crime.
❖Optimism and sympathy were negatively correlated, indicating a potential ‘tradeoff’ approach for prisoners.
❖Limitations included possible restrictions to sample representativeness; inclusion of single website with registration fee, and no
women included (sample size too small).
❖Future studies should seek to compare impression management strategies across various presentation contexts, and contrast
differences between death row and non-death prisoners with respect to these presentation strategies.
We thank Andrew Lac for his contributions to this study.
References available upon request and as supplement. E-mail: kwerth@uccs.edu.
❖Incarcerated individuals often engage in a process of identity
construction and narrative reframing as a means to integrate their life
occurrences to provide unity, purpose, and meaning to one’s life5,7
❖Common themes previously identified in studies of inmate narratives
posted on public profile sites include pleas for nonjudgement, mentions
of personal growth, claims of wrongful conviction, descriptions of
activities and hobbies, and attempts to elicit sympathy or convey
optimism1, 2, 3, 4, 6
❖This process is typically examined through the lens of crime desistance;
however, such models may be inapplicable for death row prisoners
without potential for release. As such, the constitution and functional
purpose of personal narratives in death row is largely unknown.
❖This study aimed to examine utilization of impression management
strategies via profiles on WriteaPrisoner.com. It was hypothesized that
mentions of wrongful conviction, mentions of personal growth, and pleas
for nonjudgement would predict higher sympathy ratings by coders. It
was also hypothesized that mentions of personal growth and mentions of
activities and hobbies would predict higher prisoner optimism ratings by
coders. Finally, it was expected that sympathy and optimism ratings
would be negatively correlated, representing a ‘tradeoff’ strategy in
impression management.
aUniversity of Colorado Colorado Springs, Department of Psychology
Keara A. Werthaand Kelly E. Dixona
Content Analysis of Death Row Inmate Pen-Pal Profiles
Descriptives
❖Sympathy (M= 2.32, SD = 1.04)
❖Optimism (M= 3.23, SD = 0.81)
❖Wrongful conviction: 20% endorsed
❖Pleas for nonjudgement: 10% endorsed
❖Mentions of personal growth: 34% endorsed
❖Lifestyle variables endorsed: 53% active, 58%
cultural, 15% social, 26% religious, 49%
academic (M= 1.95, SD = 1.53)
Multiple Regression Models
❖Regression model including lifestyle variable on ratings of optimism while
controlling for profile word count was not significant.
.
❖Regression model including wrongful conviction, pleas for nonjudgement, and
mentions of personal growth on ratings of sympathy while controlling for
profile word count.
Bivariate Analyses
❖Those who mentioned wrongful conviction
(10%) sig. less likely than those who did not
mention wrongful conviction (40%) to make a
self-definition attribution, p < .05.
❖Those mentioning wrongful conviction
(M= 3.10, SD = 0.84) compared to those who
did not mention it (M= 2.12, SD = 0.99) were
rated as sig. more sympathetic, t(96) = -4.07,
p< .01, d= 0.96.
❖Those mentioning personal growth (M= 3.51,
SD = 0.76) compared to those who had no
mention (M= 3.09, SD = 0.80) were rated as
sig. more optimistic, t(96) = -2.52, p< .05,
d= 0.54.
❖Optimism and sympathy negatively correlated,
r(96) = -.41, p< .001.