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Coping, perceived social support, stress, and age as predictors of correctional adjustment amongst South African incarcerated female offenders
Psychology, Crime and Law
Abstract
Incarceration is a challenging and stressful experience that requires offenders to alter their previous functioning and adjust to the correctional environment. Incarcerated female offenders who experience adjustment difficulties in the correctional environment tend to experience increased mental and physical health concerns. Therefore, investigating the possible predictor variables of correctional adjustment among incarcerated female offenders within the South African context is important. This study employed a quantitative research approach on a sample of 123 female offenders. The data were collected using questionnaires, and the findings indicated that the combination of some variables (Significant Other and Seeking Social Support) predicted Internal Adjustment, (Stress and Family) predicted External Adjustment, and (Stress and Significant Other) predicted Physical Adjustment of the female offenders. The results of this study could inform the development of correctional programmes centred on the unique treatment needs of incarcerated female offenders to assist offenders with adjusting to the correctional environment.
... Offenders in correctional environments face significant challenges, including overcrowding, violence, aggression, corruption, bullying, gang activities, mistreatment, and institutional misconduct (Cronje & Peacock, 2023;De Viggiani, 2007;Duba & Jordaan, 2023;Gear, 2007aGear, , 2007bGear, , 2008 general population outside the correctional environment may not necessarily be useful and adaptive within the correctional environment (Chahal et al., 2016;Luke et al., 2021;Picken, 2012;Pretorius et al., 2024). ...
... The CSI has been used in several international studies focusing on different populations, such as adults (Amirkhan, 1990;Bijttebier & Vertommen, 1997;Clark et al., 1995;Gillespie et al., 2000;Huang et al., 2021;Togas & Alexias, 2018), university students (Chin, 2016;Glennon & MacLachlan, 2000;Kao & Craigie, 2013;Kostićet al., 2021;Ptacek et al., 1994;Utsey et al., 2000), patients (Okanli et al., 2017;Smorti et al., 2014;Welch & Austin, 2001;Yıldırım et al., 2018) and adolescents (Pace et al., 2021). In South African studies, the CSI has been used to measure coping in various populations, such as university students (Basson, 2021), adults (Malan et al., 2018;Möller et al., 2017;Myburgh-Jacobsz et al., 2022;Spangenberg & Theron, 1999;Wissing & Van Eeden, 2002), patients (Le Roux & Kagee, 2008), and incarcerated offenders (Duba, 2022;Duba & Jordaan, 2023;Jordaan, 2014;Jordaan & Hesselink, 2022;Jordaan et al., 2018;Langenhoven, 2023;Langenhoven et al., 2024;Pretorius, 2019;Pretorius et al., 2024;Rogers, 2019;Rogers et al., 2024). The South African studies that used the CSI to measure coping amongst incarcerated offenders only reported on the reliability (internal consistency) of the CSI and did not investigate the validity (construct validity) of the CSI within this target population. ...
... Higher scores on each subscale indicate an individual's higher chance of using the associated coping strategy (Amirkhan, 1990). Adequate to exceptional internal consistencies for the CSI subscales, ranging from .60 to .72 for Avoidance, .68 to .90 for Problem-solving, and .72 to .87 for Seeking Social Support, have been reported in South African studies on male and female offenders (Duba, 2022;Duba & Jordaan, 2023;Jordaan, 2014;Jordaan & Hesselink, 2022;Langenhoven, 2023;Pretorius, 2019;Pretorius et al., 2024;Rogers, 2019;Rogers et al., 2024). ...
This study examined the psychometric properties of the coping strategy indicator (CSI) among incarcerated male offenders in South Africa. Using a cross-sectional design, 968 participants were recruited through non-probability convenience sampling and completed four measurement scales, namely the CSI, multidimensional scale of perceived social support (MSPSS), prison adjustment questionnaire (PAQ), and depression anxiety stress scale (DASS). Five factor models were investigated, namely (i) a unidimensional model, (ii) a correlated three factor model, (iii) a bifactor model with uncorrelated three dimensions, (iv) a correlated four factor model, and (v) a bifactor model with uncorrelated four dimensions. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a bifactor model with four dimensions showed the best fit. This finding suggests that incorporating a general factor along with four specific dimensions (i.e., problem-solving, seeking social support, avoidance withdrawal, avoidance distraction) most accurately reflects the multidimensional structure of coping strategies in this population. Cronbach's alpha coefficients confirmed the internal consistency of the four factor model. The results also demonstrated good convergent and divergent validity for the CSI, confirming its reliability and validity in this context.
... There is a notable scarcity of studies focusing on adaptive coping mechanisms for individuals that might be suffering from perpetrator trauma. Nevertheless, the participants' use of avoidant coping strategies corroborate the works of Duba and Jordaan (2023), Jordaan and Hesselink (2022), and C. Rogers et al. (2022), who explored coping among incarcerated offenders and reported that offenders tend to utilize more avoidant coping strategies than active coping mechanisms such as problem-solving. This is due to their lack of autonomy, independence, and control over the correctional environment. ...
... This is due to their lack of autonomy, independence, and control over the correctional environment. Therefore, they are often unable to make the changes they wish to make or solve the problems they encounter, making avoidant coping strategies more adaptive for the correctional context (Duba & Jordaan, 2023;C. Rogers et al., 2022). ...
... Others used journaling, prayer and fasting, as well as catharsis through crying to release painful trauma emotions and material as well as alleviate their distress. Researchers identified that such avoidant coping strategies are adaptive within the correctional environment than other coping strategies such as problem-solving due to the lack of control such populations have over their environment (Duba & Jordaan, 2023;Jordaan & Hesselink, 2022;C. Rogers et al., 2022). ...
Since the late 1980s, research has highlighted the unique psychological , spiritual, moral, and interpersonal injuries experienced by perpetrators of violence. However, limited attention has been given to managing such trauma, particularly among offenders. This qualitative study explored protective experiences , activities, and behaviours used by juvenile offenders in two South African correctional centres to manage perpetrator trauma. Using semi-structured interviews with 10 participants, data were analysed through reflexive thematic analysis. Four themes emerged: forgiveness and acceptance, rehabilitative programmes and support services, coping mechanisms, and social support. These findings offer insights to inform clinical management and holistic rehabilitation in correctional settings.
... The PAQ consists of 30 items and three subscales: (a) Internal Adjustment, (b) External Adjustment, and (c) Physical Adjustment (Wright, 1985). Higher scores on the PAQ suggest difficulties adjusting to the correctional environment (Wright, 1985 (Duba & Jordaan, 2023;Rogers, 2019;Rogers et al., 2022). ...
... In this study, the MSPSS yielded adequate to good internal consistencies, namely .86 for Family, .78 for Friends, .84 for Significant Others, and .91 for the Global Score on the MSPSS. Previous South African studies also yielded good to exceptional internal consistencies, ranging from .89 to .90 for the Friends subscale, .90 to .93 for the Family subscale, and .89 to .91 for the Significant Others subscale (Duba & Jordaan, 2023;Rogers, 2019;Rogers et al., 2022). ...
... This finding may also suggest that as male maximumsecurity incarcerated offenders' depressed mood decreases, they are more likely to experience poorer adjustment to the correctional environment. These findings are incongruous with the existing literature, which suggests that better adjustment is associated with decreased depressed mood (Duba & Jordaan, 2023;Dye, 2010;Picken, 2012;Rogers et al., 2022). ...
Correctional centres tend to negatively impact the mental health of incarcerated offenders, especially those unable to cope with or adjust to the correctional environment. Studies show higher rates of psychiatric disorders like depression among offenders compared to the general population. This study aimed to determine individual and combinations of possible predictors of depressed mood amongst adult male maximum-security incarcerated offenders. This study included 418 South African male incarcerated offenders, sampled using convenience sampling, and used a quantitative, cross-sectional correlational design. The PAQ subscales (Internal Adjustment, External Adjustment, and Physical Adjustment) collectively accounted for 11.6% of the variance in the depressed mood. Hierarchical regression analysis further indicated that internal adjustment and physical adjustment were the only individual predictor variables that statistically and practically significantly predicted depressed mood. This study's findings could aid in understanding the role of adjustment in developing and maintaining depressive mood states in the correctional environment.
This study explored gendered rehabilitation of women in correctional spaces and the systems and structures that recreate inequities in women’s incarceration experiences. Eighteen black women completed in-depth interviews on their offender rehabilitation experiences. Their age ranged from 23 to 69 years old, and they were mostly incarcerated for violent offenses. Thematic analysis of the interview data yielded the following themes: lack of active participation in rehabilitation processes; exclusion through language and religion; and enforcement of domestication for incarcerated women. Social justice centred approaches that recognise the diversity (classification, socio-cultural background, and gender dynamics) of people inhabiting correctional centres would help reduce disparities in correctional rehabilitation that disadvantage women offenders.
Background
Justice-involved populations report a higher than average number of pre-incarceration stressful life events. However, few studies have described stressful life events which occur during incarceration, explored gender differences in these events, or evaluated the effect of these events on well-being.
Method
This study draws from a sample of male and female adults incarcerated in 6 prison facilities across two states ( n = 160) to identify the number and type of stressful life events they experienced during incarceration, gender differences in stressful events, and the relationship between stressful life events and markers of well-being (i.e., depression, hopelessness, loneliness, suicidality). We also examined whether perceived social support would buffer the relationship between stressful events and well-being outcomes.
Results
Participants on average reported experiencing 4 stressful life events during their current incarceration, the most common being relocation to another cell and being made fun of/insulted by someone in the prison. There were few gender differences in types of events experienced. Regression analyses showed that stressful life events were associated with more loneliness, as well as suicidality, but only when participants had low perceived social support.
Conclusions
Stressful life events, and drawing on social support networks to cope with stress, should be addressed in the context of correctional treatments to reduce suicide risk during incarceration.
Offenders in South Africa face dehumanizing conditions in overcrowded correctional centers known for constant violence and corruption. These offenders need to cope and adjust to life within a correctional center. However, the majority of young adult male offenders use aggression to adjust to the correctional environment. It is, therefore, essential to identify which predictor variables predict aggression the best among incarcerated young adult male offenders. This study focused on 243 young adult male maximum-security offenders sampled through convenience sampling. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate which variable(s) or set(s) of variables explain a significant percentage of the variance of aggression. The results indicated that problem-solving, seeking social support, and avoidance, as a set of predictors, significantly predicted physical aggression, anger, and hostility. These findings seem to suggest that to decrease physical aggression, anger, and hostility among young adult offenders, it would be advisable to implement interventions that would (i) increase their problem-solving skills, (ii) improve their social support, and (iii) teach them to refrain from making use of avoidance as a coping strategy.
This study aims to (1) find out the emotion-focused coping strategies used by the new inmates in the Class IIA Female Correctional Facility of Malang City, (2) understand the illustration of new inmates’ adjustment, (3) find out whether emotion-focused coping is a predictor of new inmates’ adjustment. This study employs predictive- quantitative research with descriptive analysis and applies simple linear regression on the population of new inmates at the Class IIA Female Correctional Facility of Malang City. The study uses the one-shot tryout technique. The subjects were selected using a saturated sample of 118 respondents. The instruments used were the adaptation of the Prison Adjustment Questionnaire (PAQ) and the adaptation of the Ways of Coping Scale (WCQ). The descriptive analysis uses categorization based on the T value, while hypothesis testing uses simple linear regression analysis techniques. This study resulted in an accepted hypothesis with a significance value of 0.014, an R value of 0.336, and an R square value of 0.181, which indicated that emotion-focused coping contributed to the emergence of self-adjustment by 18.1%. The use of emotion- focused coping can be used to develop self-adjustment for inmates in correctional environments, in addition to the emotion-focused coping that successfully applied can increase the self-esteem and capacity of inmates to overcome their problems in the future. Keywords: emotion-focused coping, adjustment, new inmates
The South African Department of Correctional Services (DCS) has a constitutional mandate to provide rehabilitation programs that address offenders’ criminal conducts. The rehabilitation approach currently used to deliver this mandate is grounded on the needs-based model where dynamic factors associated with recidivism are systematically targeted in the treatment of offenders’ criminal behaviors. In this research, a qualitative research methodology was employed, and a case study research design was utilized. Purposeful non-probability sampling was utilized to recruit participants. Thirty inmates and 20 correctional center officials who met the inclusion criteria for the study were selected to participate. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data during the empirical investigation. The findings of this study demonstrated that the DCS’s mission is far from being accomplished due to its failure to implement rehabilitation programs. The research study, therefore, recommends that for the success of a rehabilitation approach in South Africa, a critical review of the strategy meant to achieve this goal is required.
Objective: Many people who think about suicide do not engage in suicidal behavior. Identifying risk factors implicated in the process of behavioral enaction is crucial for suicide prevention, particularly in high‐risk groups such as prisoners.
Method: Cross‐sectional data were drawn from a nationally representative sample of 17,891 prisoners (79% men) in the United States. We compared prisoners who attempted suicide (attempters; n = 2,496) with those who thought about suicide but never made an attempt (ideators; n = 1,716) on a range of established risk factors.
Results: More than half (59%) of participants who experienced suicidal ideation had also attempted suicide. Violent offending, trauma, brain injury, alcohol abuse, and certain mental disorders distinguished attempters from ideators.
Conclusion: Our results fit within recent ideation‐to‐action theories that emphasize the role of a capability for suicide in the transition from thoughts to acts of suicide.
This longitudinal study investigated the self-reported adjustment of 75 young adults (aged 17-22 years) newly admitted to a Portuguese prison, and examines changes, correlates, and outcomes of their prison adjustment. The prisoners were assessed at the first, third, and sixth month after their entry in prison. Regression analyses revealed that, overall, adjustment problems remained relatively stable during the first six months of incarceration. Having more prison visits, a lower educational level, and being White were associated with more adjustment problems in general. Adjustment problems were, in turn, associated with subsequent mental health symptoms and severe disciplinary infractions. The current study shows that self-report measures may be useful in assessing the adjustment of young adult offenders' over time in prison.
Criminological case study analysis of female economic offenders
Although still limited, inroads are being made in developing a body of knowledge about incarcerated female offenders in South Africa. We present key findings from a survey among this offender population with reference to their demographic characteristics, family background and criminal histories, as well as their uptake of rehabilitation initiatives. Data was obtained from 120 female offenders incarcerated in a South African correctional facility (sample coverage 80.0%). In addition to descriptive results on the profile of female offenders, non-parametric procedures were used to identify meaningful differences (p<0.05) between the profiles of short-term and medium-term female offenders. The results revealed effect sizes of r>-0.20 between the two groups in respect of socio-demographic characteristics, previous arrests and prison sentences, self-harm, substance abuse, participation in rehabilitation programmes and expectancies of future criminality. The survey results call for specific reforms regarding current rehabilitation policy and practices, particularly with imprisoned short-term female offenders in mind as their profiles present unique vulnerabilities for future contact with the criminal justice system.
Background:
Sub Saharan African (SSA) prisons have seen a substantial increase in women prisoners in recent years. Despite this increase, women prisoners constitute a minority in male dominated prison environments, and their special health needs are often neglected. Research activity on prison health remains scant in SSA, with gathering of strategic information generally restricted to infectious diseases (human immunodeficiency virus infection HIV/tuberculosis TB), and particularly focused on male prisoners. Health care provisions for women (and pregnant women) in SSA prisons are anecdotally reported to fall far short of the equivalence care standards mandated by human rights and international recommendations, and the recent agreements set out in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Minimum Standards for HIV in Prisons.
Methods:
A scoping review mapped what is currently known about women prisoners' health experiences, unique prison health care needs and health care outcomes in SSA. A systematic search collected and reviewed all available and relevant published and grey literature (2000-2017). Following removal of duplicates and application of exclusion measures, 46 records remained, which represented 18 of the 49 SSA countries. These records were subsequently charted and thematically analysed.
Results:
Three themes were generated; 'The Prison Regime'; 'Navigating inside the Prison Health Infrastructure' and 'Accessing the outside Community and Primary Care Health Services'. Women in SSA prisons experience the same substandard nutrition, overcrowding and unhygienic conditions which exacerbate poor health and infectious disease transmission as males. Human rights abuses, substandard prison conditions and poor access to prison based and community clinical care, along with the invisible nature of women and that of their unique health needs are deplorable.
Conclusions:
The review has highlighted the dearth of gender specific strategic information on women prisoners in the region, appalling environmental conditions and prison health care provision, and violation of human rights for those incarcerated. Enhanced donor support, resource allocation, prison health and population health policy reform, health systems surveillance and gender sensitive prison health service provision is warranted. This will help address women prisoners' conditions and their specific health needs in SSA prisons, and ultimately bridge the gap between prison and population health in the region.
Background
During the era of apartheid in South Africa, a number of mental health professionals were vocal about the need for socio-economic and political reform. They described the deleterious psychological and social impact of the oppressive and discriminatory Nationalist state policies. However, they remained optimistic that democracy would usher in positive changes. In this article, we consider how mental health professionals working in post-apartheid South Africa experience their work.
Methods
Our aim was to describe the experience of mental health professionals working in prisons who provide care to suicidal prisoners. Data were collected from in-depth semi-structured interviews and were analyzed using thematic content analysis.
Results
Findings draw attention to the challenges mental health professionals in post-apartheid South Africa face when attempting to provide psychological care in settings where resources are scarce and where the environment is anti-therapeutic. Findings highlight the significant gap between current policies, which protect prisoners’ human rights, and every-day practices within prisons.
Conclusions
The findings imply that there is still an urgent need for activism in South Africa, particularly in the context of providing mental health care services in settings which are anti-therapeutic and inadequately resourced, such as prisons.
Prison visitation is an important tool used to strengthen inmates' social ties and incentivize good behavior in prison. Nevertheless, prison visits do not always go well for inmates, and we know little about why that is. Accordingly , in the current study we examined inmates' varied experiences with prison visitation. We used data collected from 228 visited inmates who reported on 701 of their adult visitors, and identified whether visits typically made inmates feel guilty, stressed, sad, loved, comforted, and/or supported , and if inmates often argued with their visitors. Results from multi-level models indicated marked variability in inmates' experiences with visitation, shaped by: who visits, how often they visit, inmates' pre-prison behaviors, prison life, and demographic factors. These findings suggest that resources for conflict resolution may be needed during visitation, and that family-centric correctional interventions that recognize the variation we have uncovered here might hold promise in maximizing the effectiveness of visitation.
Scientific research adopts qualitative and quantitative methodologies in the modeling and analysis of numerous phenomena. The qualitative methodology intends to understand a complex reality and the meaning of actions in a given context. On the other hand, the quantitative methodology seeks to obtain accurate and reliable measurements that allow a statistical analysis. Both methodologies offer a set of methods, potentialities and limitations that must be explored and known by researchers. This paper concisely maps a total of seven qualitative methods and five quantitative methods. A comparative analysis of the most relevant and adopted methods is done to understand the main strengths and limitations of them. Additionally, the work developed intends to be a fundamental reference for the accomplishment of a research study, in which the researcher intends to adopt a qualitative or quantitative methodology. Through the analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of each method, it becomes possible to formulate a more accurate, informed and complete choice.
The inadequate conditions of imprisonment in South African correctional facilities are well known. Health care, sanitation, food provision, access to education and reading materials, and in particular, the overcrowding, of female prisons are considerable challenges faced by the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) regarding the incarceration of female prisoners[i]. A retrospective view of the conditions under which female inmates in South African correctional facilities are incarcerated is examined in this paper. Findings indicate that prison conditions in some South African female correctional facilities are poor: health care and sanitation facilities are largely inadequate, the quality of food is poor, little or no reading materials are made available, and recreational facilities are largely absent. These conditions impact negatively on the female prisoners during, and sometimes, after their incarceration.
The health needs of women in sub-Saharan African prisons are both neglected and poorly understood. Outside South Africa, little research exists on African prison health; what is available tends to be gender-blind and concerned with disease prevention rather than with health promotion. While Vetten (2008) has raised this concern previously, a comprehensive overview of women’s health and health promotion in African jails is clearly absent. Available evidence shows that the conditions in African prisons are harmful to health, justifying a need for a health promoting prisons agenda rooted in the needs of sub-Saharan Africa. Women prisoners have significant mental and physical health needs, and international conventions on health care are not being respected globally. The health promoting prison concept has considerable attention in the Global North, with a commitment to equivalence of health care, gender sensitivity and to prisoners’ social as well as health needs. This article provides an opportunity for critical reflection on women’s health in prison, shows the lack of research in this area, questions the suitability of the health promoting prisons’ agenda for sub-Saharan Africa, draws on our limited experience of the women’s prison in Lusaka, Zambia, and produces recommendations to tackle women’s health and wellbeing needs within the criminal justice systems of sub-Saharan Africa.
South Africa has one of the highest crime and recidivism rates in the world. Although widely accepted that crime is a complex and multi-nodal social phenomenon, it is indubitably causally linked to South Africa’s historical and current socio-political circumstances, poverty and unemployment, as well as the ineffective rehabilitation and treatment of offenders. Anecdotal evidence suggests that offenders are often apportioned the blame for reoffending and written off as incorrigible, without any real reflection on the efficiency and/or relevance of the prison programmes to which they were subjected to begin with. Accurate and relevant assessment of criminogenic risk factors is not only connected to the major outcomes of meta-analyses, but forms the foundation for treatment-planning and decision-making pertaining to risk and safety, and ultimately abstinence from aberrant behaviour. This article critically addresses the issue of South African needs-based offender rehabilitation in a systemic and diagnostic manner by aligning theory with relevant case scenarios in order to expose the essence of the therapeutic challenges in the South African custodial environment.
Purpose: Age constitutes one of the most robust correlates of prison misconduct-younger inmates are more likely to commit infractions. Minimal theoretical or empirical attention, however, has been given to the potential nonlinear effect of age on misconduct. The current study examines the age-misconduct relationship and how it may vary by timing of misconduct after admission and by type of infraction. The paper also assesses the utility of different nonlinear transformations to estimate the age-misconduct relationship. Methods: The study examines 137,552 offenders admitted to state prison in Florida from 1995 to 2000 and uses negative binomial regression to assess the relationship between age and misconduct. Results: Analyses indicate that the youngest inmates, especially those age 24 and under, are substantially more likely to engage in misconduct, that this relationship is more pronounced during the initial months of incarceration, and that it holds regardless of type of offense. Conclusions: The youngest inmates appear to be especially likely to engage in misconduct. Nonlinear specifications of the age-misconduct relationship should be employed in future research. Studies are needed to explain why misconduct is disproportionately higher among young inmates. Policies are needed that effectively reduce misconduct among this population.
The rich body of prison literature suggests that imprisonment is a painful experience, even though imprisonment does not appear to uniformly cause psychological deterioration. However, psychological adjustment and its variations remain poorly defined in the literature. The aim of this study is to provide a framework for understanding psychological adjustment and describe patterns of adjustment of prisoners who are close to their release. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted with male and female prisoners. Even in the same prison environment, prisoners showed a wide variety of patterns of psychological adjustment, characterised by differences in coping ability and functioning, mental health, subjective well-being and outlook on the future.
This article provides a short history of female imprison-ment and the role that religion and spiritual care have played and may play in the lives of female prisoners in the South African context. This is illustrated by reflecting briefly on the role of religion in Sister Bernard Ncube's life during her detention as a political activist. The article also reflects on the current situation in female prisons and the transformation that is taking place, in that women are now being allowed to act as spiritual caregivers. Information provided by the Department of Correctional Services on spiritual care for women is analysed and further illustrated by means of facts gleaned from research undertaken in female prisons by the author. The role that spiritual care plays in the rehabilitation of female offenders is also discussed.
The unique contextual attributes of the correctional environment and the frustrations, deprivations and challenges associated with it impact adjustment to incarceration. Offenders who cannot adjust to the correctional environment may experience behavioural and psychological challenges, including institutional misconduct, violence, aggression, withdrawal, anger, hostility, anxiety and depression. It is imperative to identify which variables are possible predictors of correctional adjustment among male incarcerated offenders in a private, maximum-security correctional centre in South Africa. In this quantitative study, 418 male maximum-security offenders were sampled. Questionnaire data were collected, and the results indicated that the combination of some variables (Friends, Avoidance and Problem-solving) predicted Internal Adjustment and (Anger, Friends and Verbal Aggression) predicted External Adjustment of the offenders. The results from this study could aid in the development of future programmes that assist offenders with adjusting to the correctional environment.
Ending violence against women-part of the priority theme of the CSW65-is an international human rights issue. We must prevent and combat violence against all women, including those who are incarcerated worldwide. Incarcerated women are among the most marginalized populations; they have suffered numerous victimizations without ever seeing their perpetrators brought to justice. Though most incarcerated women have committed non-violent offenses, they are locked away in prisons, far away from their loved ones, and subject to inhumane conditions. According to international human rights law, preventing VAW is the responsibility of the State in all contexts, including prisons. In this article, we acknowledge the global treatment of women in prison as a form of State violence against women and provide policy reform for incarcerated women worldwide. We propose four strategies to reform women's incarceration worldwide: (1) recognizing and dismantling systemic and institutionalized discrimination and biases; (2) abolition of prison sentences for non-violent offenders; (3) restorative approaches to aftercare (or reentry); and (4) making children the priority.
Correctional environments are regarded as degrading, dangerous, difficult, stigmatizing, stressful, unsafe, and violent. Young adult male incarcerated offenders need to acquire the necessary coping skills to survive in the correctional environment. This research study aimed to determine which variable(s) or set of variables explain a significant percentage of the variance in coping among young adult male incarcerated offenders in a South African private maximum-security correctional center. The research approach in this study was quantitative, and the nature of the research was nonexperimental. A correlational research design was used. The sample consisted of 187 young adult male incarcerated offenders. The hierarchical regression analysis results indicated that vigilance was the only predictor variable that statistically and practically significantly predicted seeking social support and problem-solving. This finding implies that young adult offenders who are more vigilant regarding decision-making are more inclined to solve problems better and use social support to cope better.
The number of incarcerated women in South Africa has steadily increased over the last decade. However, as a minority in the carceral population of the country, their narratives are underrepresented. An emergent body of feminist, gender responsive research has found that motherhood is central to the narratives of incarcerated women. This study endeavored to document the life histories of 17 women who are incarcerated in the largest correctional center in South Africa. The narratives of these women explicate how the gendered role of motherhood impacted on their incarceration pathways, contributing to the developing literature of justice-involved women in South Africa.
We examined (1) whether the relationship between religiosity and
negative emotions (anger, frustration, depression, and anxiety)
among prisoners is attributable to inmates’ sense of meaning and
purpose in life and personal virtues and (2) whether religiosity
has a larger positive relationship with a search for and a presence
of meaning in life as well as the virtues of forgiveness, gratitude,
and self-control among female than male inmates. To examine
these relationships, we analyzed survey data from a sample of
offenders in South African correctional centers. Findings showed
that more religious inmates reported lower levels of negative
emotions to the extent that their religiosity enhanced a sense of
meaning and purpose in life and levels of self-control than their
less or non-religious peers. We also found the salutary effect of
religiosity to be applicable equally to male and female inmates.
Substantive and practical implications of our findings
are discussed.
Several studies have sought the factors that are related to prison adjustment. However, this construct is poorly explored among female populations and even less so in those with characteristics of psychopathy. Thus, the present study aims to understand prison adjustment among female offenders and determine the role of psychopathy and criminal lifestyle in predicting it. Both institutional infractions and health care utilization were used as indicators of prison adjustment. A sample of 63 female offenders was assessed with the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) and the Lifestyle Criminality Screening Form-Revised (LSCF-R). 88.9% of female offenders search for health care services, and 67.2% had at least one institutional infraction. Negative binomial regressions revealed that PCL-R total scores, LSCF-R total scores, and drug abuse were predictors of institutional infractions. None of the assessed variables are statistically associated with health care services utilization. These results are of particular importance for psychologists and correctional managers, given the interest in reducing the risk of maladjustment and increase the process of adaptation to prison.
Objectives
We aimed to analyze the mental health status of incarcerated offenders in the detention centers and related factors; and introduce psychological resilience, self-acceptance and perceived social support for further analyses, to explore the relationships between them and mental health in these special populations.
Methods
Incarcerated offenders in two detention centers of Guangdong province were recruited. General demographic questionnaire, Self-acceptance Questionnaire (SAQ), Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS), Connor and Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-20) were addressed to the participants for investigation. Pearson correlation analysis, multiple linear regression and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were used to identify the associations and related factors.
Results
Scores for GHQ-20, CD-RISC, SAQ and PSSS were 7.72 ± 4.49, 57.85 ± 17.30, 40.94 ± 5.40 and 42.99 ± 9.90, respectively. Some socio-demographic factors influenced significantly to the mental health status. After adjusting for socio-demographic factors, the scores of self-acceptance (B=-0.23, P<0.001), perceived social support (B=-0.10, P<0.001) and psychological resilience (B=-0.06, P<0.001) were negatively associated with scores of mental health. Further SEM analyses suggested self-acceptance and resilience had not only mediating effects respectively, but also multiple mediating effects between perceived social support and mental health (r=-0.11, P<0.01; r=-0.12, P<0.01; r=-0.04, P<0.01).
Conclusion
The levels of mental health, psychological resilience, self-acceptance and perceived social support among incarcerated offenders are generally low, and influenced by socio-demographic factors. In addition, self-acceptance, perceived social support and resilience are protective factors for mental health status of offenders; and self-acceptance and resilience mediate the association between perceived social support and mental health.
The representation of women classified as maximum-security offenders continues to be a challenge due to paucity of research regarding their experiences. Generally, their stories are masked under the experiences of the other categories of incarcerated women. Drawing from a larger study conducted with incarcerated women in a South African correctional centre in Johannesburg, in this article I provide a thematic analysis of in-depth interviews on the lived experiences of negotiating the maximum-security offender identity by 13 women. The results suggest that the maximum-security offender identity is associated with rejection, dehumanisation, denial of agency, restricted movement, and labelling. The article also highlights the significance of providing agency to incarcerated women in deconstructing stereotypes that represent them as angry and uneducated with no value to society. A more balanced repositioning of their stories emerges as they get an opportunity to construct their own experiences.
Despite considerable growth in the incarcerated female population over the past several decades, this group has received less empirical attention compared to incarcerated males. This is particularly salient when examining trending topics including confinement in restrictive housing and perceptions of correctional staff. In an effort to address these concerns, this study uses Differential Coercion and Social Support (DCSS) theory to understand maladjustment among female offenders that includes assault misconduct, institutionalized resistance (filing grievances), and mental health problems. Several logistic regression analyses with robust standard errors reveal sources of coercion, like confinement in restrictive housing, are significantly associated with maladjustment outcomes. Sources of social support (e.g., family visits) also influence maladjustment outcomes, but the effects vary by type of support and the outcome examined. DCSS provides an understanding of maladjustment within institutional settings for women, and policy implications include continued efforts to provide institutionally approved methods to handle disputes and other institutionalized forms of resistance.
The purpose of this research project was to develop, implement, and evaluate a Life Skills programme for young adult male long-term offenders with the aim of improving their life skills that, in turn, could enable them to adjust more effectively in the correctional environment. Experimental research was used to investigate the effectiveness of the programme. In this study, 96 literate young adult male offenders between the ages of 21 and 25 years, with long sentences, were selected randomly. The participants were assigned randomly into an experimental and a control group. The Solomon four-group design was utilized to control for the effect of pretest sensitization. The measurements of the effectiveness of the programme were conducted before the programme commenced, directly (short term) after, 3 months (medium term) after, and 6 months (long term) after. The findings indicated that the programme had limited success in equipping the offenders with the necessary skills crucial to their survival in a correctional centre. The programme did, however, have significant effects, especially on problem solving and anger management in the short and medium term. These improvements were not long lived.
With the increasing number of women in prison, understanding incarcerated women's psychological health is a timely and necessary line of research to guide policy and practices within prisons. This understanding influences prison design, service coordination, and intervention development. Two main theories commonly shape the examination of women's psychological health during incarceration: deprivation theory and importation theory. Deprivation theory posits that aspects of the prison's environment, such as type of correctional facility, institutional crowding, and type of supervision, influence women's psychological health. In contrast, importation theory focuses on offender-level variables, such as demographics and adversity histories, in connection to incarcerated women's psychological health. This article reviews key research findings from these two theoretical perspectives. An integration of these theories may advance the field of knowledge about women's mental health in prison. Based on both existing research insights and gaps, this article outlines specific implications for theory development and social work research, practice, and policy directions.
Clinicians working with women in forensic secure environments will be acutely aware of the diverse risks, complex treatment needs and unique responsivity issues found in this multifaceted marginal group. Women make up 5% of the prison population and approx 20% of the secure forensic psychiatric population (approx 4,500 and 1,085 women respectively). What animates the studies of women is not so much numbers of offenders but the particular circumstances of the women and girls “behind” the numbers. There is a common perception that women make up such a small number of the criminal justice service (CJS) population that devising gender sensitive environments and interventions is unnecessary. However studies of patients detained in high and medium security have identified significant gender differences. Women are more likely to commit minor offenses, be diagnosed with a personality disorder, present with self injurious behavior and have suffered childhood victimization. Thus, women and girls who are caught up in the justice system enter it as a result of circumstances distinctly different from those of men.
Up until recently the needs of women were inadequately met in services centered on the needs of men and it is only relatively recently that the need to address these glaring differences has been thrashed out in the public arena. Following a number of high profile reviews and reports mixed sex wards have been become a exceptional, strip searches of women in prison have been abolished and large numbers of women have been reviewed and stepped down to lower levels of security. A less well researched area of women’s secure care centers on the profound impact of adjusting to a new environment which involves coping with severance of social support networks.
While many studies on social support have demonstrated promising evidence of positive outcomes in a variety of criminal justice settings, not enough empirical research has been conducted on gender effects in a prison setting. Using a sample of 359 Korean inmates (303 men and 56 women), this study examines whether social support lessens involvement in prison misconduct, and whether male and female inmates are similarly affected. The findings indicate that female inmates are less likely to engage in misconduct than male inmates. In addition, while male inmates are provided more institutional social support than female inmates, female inmates are more likely to be provided more informal social support than male inmates. Implications for further research and correctional policy are discussed.
Pre-prison experiences and environmental influences were examined to determine the effects of institutional misconduct and symptoms of depression related to adjustment in Taiwan's women's prisons. Using self-reported survey data derived from 883 Taiwanese female inmates, the findings suggest that pre-prison victimization, imprisonment stress, and social support from family members all had statistically significant effects on adjustment to life in prison. Although deviance prior to prison was highly related to institutional misconduct, reported illnesses also significantly increased the level of symptoms associated with depression. Lower levels of institutional misconduct were reported by women who committed drug offenses compared with their counterparts who committed violent offenses. The article concludes with insights from a comparative perspective and public policy implications.
Suicide in prisons has been seen as a public health concern reaching crisis proportions around the world. In this study, data from 60 inmates in a South Australian remand facility were used to examine the relationship between loneliness and known predictors of self-harm, such as depression and hopelessness. As predicted, the results suggested that prisoners who scored higher on a measure of loneliness reported higher levels of depression, hopelessness and indicators of suicidal behaviour. The implications of these findings for suicide management are discussed. It is concluded that whilst specialist mental health services are needed to treat problems such as depression, loneliness is something that may be managed by correctional staff with no professional experience or training.
In this article, we investigate the relationship between Chinese female offenders' prison adjustment and their perception of social support using both quantitative and qualitative methods. We find that social support has positive effects on female offenders' prison adjustment and that demographic factors are not significantly related to their prison adjustment or perception of social support. Of three types of social support providers (family, friends, and significant others), offenders welcomed support from the family the most, followed by significant others (including prison officers and social volunteers). Support from friends (mainly fellow prisoners) is comparatively less important in the lives of Chinese female offenders.
