Loss of Meaning as a Predictor of Distress in Prison

Abstract

Incarceration has been described as a distressing experience, marked by important losses and accompanied by deep existential crises. Some prisoners "hit rock bottom" and are confronted with the fact that their life does not make sense anymore. Surprisingly, loss of meaning among prisoners has not been studied in a quantitative way before. In this study, we explored the relationship between loss of meaning inflicted by incarceration and distress. In a sample of 365 prisoners, univariate analyses and hierarchical multiple regression analyses confirmed that a loss of meaning positively predicted distress in prison. Differences between prison regimes predicted distress, but had no influence on the loss of meaning. Unsentenced incarceration, in contrast, did not have a direct relationship to distress, but amplified the effect of loss of meaning on distress. Psychotherapy and chaplain support did not affect the relationship between loss of meaning and distress during incarceration.

Existential and Virtuous Effects of Religiosity on Mental Health and Aggressiveness among Offenders

“…When mediators were examined individually, offenders' existential belief was found to consistently explain the religious effect across all three dependent variables; that is, more religious offenders were less likely to report feelings of depression and anxiety and intention to engage in interpersonal aggression, because they were more likely to have a sense of meaning and purpose in life than their less or non-religious counterparts. This finding is in part consistent with previous research showing the psychologically detrimental impact of loss of meaning among prisoners (Vanhooren et al 2017).…”

“…Presence of meaning and forgiveness were inversely associated with state anxiety (−0.25 and −0.17, respectively), and compassion was inversely related to intended aggression (−0.25). The inverse relationship that exists between presence of meaning and forgiveness and state anxiety tends to support the idea that (1) a sense of meaning and purpose in life is likely to decrease the chance of experiencing anxiety by avoiding existential crisis and frustration (Frankl 1984;Jang 2016;Vanhooren et al 2017), and (2) forgiveness repairs relationships damaged by personal offenses, thereby reducing anxiety (Krause 2018). We also estimated the total indirect effect of religiosity via all six mediators to see whether existential belief and virtues collectively mediated the religious effect on the ultimate endogenous variables.…”

“…Similarly, Jang 2016reported not only a positive correlation between religiosity and "existential spirituality," a belief in ultimate meaning and purpose in life, but also an inverse relationship between existential belief and symptoms of anxiety-related disorders (see also Wang et al 2016). While religion was not examined, a recent study of three prisons in Belgium found that the experience of loss of meaning was positively associated with distress among prison inmates (Vanhooren et al 2017).…”

Coping Strategies and Posttraumatic Growth in Prison

“…Consistent with studies on posttraumatic growth in the general population (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004), the process of growth in offenders starts with a loss of meaning and a deep personal crisis, in this case induced by the crime and imprisonment (Vanhooren et al, 2017a). Both the characteristics of incarceration and the awareness of the consequences of the crime have the potential to lead to a loss of meaning of the offender about one's self, the others, and about the world.…”

Six-Month Emergency Department Use among Older Adults Following Jail Incarceration

“…This study includes ten items from the patient dignity inventory that we believed would be most relevant outside the context of serious illness. Based on prior work showing the high prevalence of unique forms of existential distress among older prisoners [45][46][47], we also assessed two additional measures: BFear of dying in jail or prison instead of as a free person,^and BFeeling like you have missed out on things or relationships in life because of alcohol or substance abuse. nalysis Baseline participant demographics, health, behavioral health, and health-related social factors were analyzed using descriptive statistics. We used chisquare tests to determine the association of baseline sociodemographics, chronic health conditions, geriatric conditions, distressing symptoms, behavioral health, and health-related social factors with any ED use over the 6-month study period.…”