Socio-demographic characteristics as correlates of psychological distress

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the level of psychological distress of offenders newly brought into prison custody in a Nigerian prison and investigate the relationship with socio-demographic and penal characteristics. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional study involving 236 new prison entrants who were assessed for psychological distress using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Findings A total of 267 prison inmates were newly brought to prison custody over a three-month period. Out of this, 236 (88.4 per cent) of them participated in the study. Majority of the inmates were males 225 (95.3 per cent), awaiting-trial inmates 208 (88.1 per cent), single 144 (61 per cent), Christian 224 (94.9 per cent), first time offenders 218 (92.4 per cent) and charged with violent offences 136 (57.6 per cent). Majority of the inmates scored above cut-off points on the GHQ-12 and the HADS. In total, 157 (66.5 per cent) on HADS anxiety subscale, 201 (85.2 per cent) on HADS depression subscale and 199 (84.3 per cent) on GHQ-12. Significant relationship was observed between GHQ-12 “caseness”, prison category and type of offence. Prison situation and type of offence were significantly associated with HADS depression subscale, whereas age was associated with HADS anxiety subscale. Research limitations/implications Some limitations were encountered in the course of the study. First, the study relied on self-report questionnaires for collection of data. Second, information given by the respondents could neither be corroborated by family members, who were not present during the interview, nor by the officers and men of the Nigeria Prisons Service, who knew little or nothing about the respondents. Participants in this study had spent maximum of three days in prison during the interview, thus certain levels of distress within three days after incarceration may not entail “caseness” in the sense of the presence of a psychiatric disorder. Therefore assessment over a longer period is needed. Practical implications Screening prison inmates on reception into prison custody provides a vista of opportunity to identify mental health problems and socio-demographic and forensic correlates of psychological distress among new entrants into prison custody. This will facilitate early identification and management of prison inmates with health needs. Health screening on reception will also help in identifying the various penal or forensic characteristics of prison inmates, which will be put into consideration during selection of appropriate rehabilitation and reformation activities that best fit a particular prison inmate. Early screening of prison inmates upon reception in the prison will also help in identifying prison inmates who have high risk of suicide and self-harm, thus preventing cases of death that may arise as a result of these mental health problems. Findings from this study will also enrich the body of knowledge on mental health problems of prison inmates entering the prison; this will also help the criminal justice system in decision making, especially with emphasis on psychological evaluation of prison inmates before dispensing judgment. On the part of the prison authority, the prison inmates identified to have psychological distress and some forensic characteristics can be properly classified, and kept in cells that will not aggravate their distress. Finally, this is the first study of prison inmates on reception into Enugu Maximum Security Prison, Enugu State Nigeria. The implication of this is that findings from this research will form a baseline on which further research on prison inmates upon reception in the prison can be conducted. Originality/value This study demonstrated that prison inmates are faced with high level of psychological distress during their early days in prison, and that some socio-demographic and forensic variables had significant association with psychological distress as itemised in Tables III and IV. Therefore, screening new inmates on prison reception will help in early identification and treatment of vulnerable groups. This will also help in proper classification and allocation into appropriate cells of prison inmates by the prison authority.

The Prevalence of Generalised Anxiety Disorder Among Prisoners of the Penitentiary Institution in North-Eastern Poland

“…Attention is paid to the issue of the importance of determining the level of psychological stress of prisoners placed in prisons, thanks to which it is possible to predict what health problems they may have, depending on the conditions prevailing in individual prisons (29). The scale of the problem was confirmed, among others, by studies in Italy, Spain and Nigeria, according to which prisoners, despite health problems, are not properly treated (30)(31)(32).…”

Psychological Features and Social-Psychological Mechanism of Participants in Group Events Induced by Environmental Damage

“…The root for environmental destructive group events is that it hurts the most fundamental interests of the people, and environmental damage affects people's lives and production safety (Okoro, Ezeonwuka, & Onu, 2018). Figure 1 shows the classification of environmental destructive group events.…”

Relationship between psychiatric symptoms, childhood traumas, and types of crime of convicts in Elazig closed prisons

“…It was also determined that suicidal thoughts are high (5,21). In a study conducted abroad with 236 newly imprisoned people, anxiety scores were high, with a rate of 66.5%, and depression scores with a rate of 85.2% (22). Similarly, it was shown in another study that prisoners have a risk of suicide rate of 13.2%.…”

“…When the literature was reviewed, the number of prison entrances was examined in a limited number of studies, and the psychiatric symptoms of prisoners were questioned (22,25). In a previous study, it was reported that the depression scores of those who had a prison entrance before were higher than those who did not have a prison entrance (22). Another study showed that the idea of suicide was less among prisoners entering prison for the first time (251).…”