Doing Well or Just Doing Time? A Qualitative Study of Patterns of Psychological Adjustment in Prison

Abstract

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.

‘It's as if you're not in the Jail, as if you're not a Prisoner’: Young Male Offenders’ Experiences of Incarceration, Prison Chaplaincy, Religion and Spirituality in Scotland and Denmark

“…Drawing upon our empirical insights from Scotland and Denmark, it is possible for us to begin to add some additional weight to the earlier insights from Schinkel () and Van Ginneken () that connect in‐prison experiences with pre‐ and (projected) post‐prison biographies and desistance‐related commitment. Our analysis indicates that prisons can become landscapes for resocialisation through stimulating the turning points that may lead young inmates to question their self‐identity and offending behaviour.…”

“…We recognise that wider forms of secular counselling and agency support may offer those same types of supportive relationships to young inmates, and potentially enable them to draw on meaning‐making processes that foster desistance‐related attitudes and views (Van Ginneken ). However, our insights suggest that prison chaplains provided added value – first in the form of the commodity of time that they were able to offer to inmates, which is not always feasible among other members of prison care teams (Whitehead ).…”

“…Our research has focused on the incarceration experiences of young Scottish and Danish male prisoners, their perceptions about the support offered by prison chaplains and their experiences of spirituality and religion in penal settings. Once inside prison, many of our participants experienced emotional and traumatic transitional experiences (see Clear and Sumter ; Thomas and Zaitzow ), and most felt that there was a distinct lack of social or practical support from prison officers or guards (Sundt and Cullen ; Van Ginneken ). Many were clearly experiencing transitional identities in the sense that they were seeking to change their social circumstances and behaviour.…”

How Does Timing Affect Trauma Treatment for Women Who Are Incarcerated? An Empirical Analysis

“…Adjustment problems often present in the form of internalizing symptoms (e.g., discomfort, insomnia, anger), externalizing behaviors (e.g., arguments, physical altercations), and an increased risk of physical illness and suicidal behavior (e.g., Liebling, 1999; O’Donnell & Edgar, 1999). Successful adaptation often involves establishing feelings of safety, psychological well-being, a sense of autonomy, making meaning of one’s experience, improved functioning (e.g., meeting the demands of the environment), and having a positive outlook on the future (van der Laan & Eichelsheim, 2013; Van Ginneken, 2015).…”

“…Previous research suggests that incarceration can exacerbate symptoms of emotional distress and behavioral dysregulation in people with trauma histories (e.g., Listwan et al, 2010); however, some people’s symptoms improve during incarceration, and researchers have underscored the importance of reassessing trauma symptoms after an initial period of adjustment (Hochstetler et al, 2004). Indeed, prior work has found various adjustment problems change over time (Van Ginneken, 2015). One study found that adjustment continued to improve throughout incarceration for men; however, incarcerated women experienced periods of both increased and decreased adjustment (Hassan et al, 2011).…”