No abstract

This article reviews 90 experimental studies that examined the psychological effects of imprisonment on performance, personality, and attitudinal variables. An analysis of the studies revealed that they suffered from considerable methodological problems, including the use of inadequate research designs and unsystematic sampling procedures. The types of subjects and time periods used varied widely, thus making a comparison of the findings, at times, difficult. The results suggested that imprisonment is not harmful to all individuals: Some persons deteriorated in response to confinement, other persons improved their functioning, and still others showed no appreciable change. A complex interaction of factors including individual difference variables, institutional orientation, degree of crowding, phase of sentence, and peer group affiliation seems to influence an individual's response to confinement. The findings also have implications for current correctional controversies such as the "nothing works" issue and the relative value of determinate versus indeterminate sentencing procedures. Future research should further clarify the effects on prisoner adjustment of intrainstitutional variables such as crowding, solitary confinement, prison policy changes, and peer group affiliation. The various patterns of adaptation to confinement in relation to individual difference variables also should be explored.According to recent U.S. Department of Justice surveys (1977, 1978), more than 276,000 adults and 74,000 juveniles are confined in our nation's prisons and reformatories. Convicted criminals are being sentenced to prison at a rate that is the highest in the world, these sentences becoming longer and harsher as the crime rate escalates (Doleschal, 1977). Similar increases in .the number of juveniles confined have been noted, with concomitant increases in the number of public facilities, staff members employed, and financial expenditures (U.

Studies which investigate the impact of treatment on subjects with singular and multiple sexual paraphilias (exhibitionism, fetishism, pedophilia, transvestism, voyeurism) are reviewed. A methodological evaluation was conducted with attention to six categories: design, subjects, therapists, treatment, time periods, and outcome measures. Subjects included sexual offenders and non-offenders. Most of the studies were single-case reports. The methodological shortcomings in the literature included the failure to control for social desirability factors, especially in the case of sex offenders, and the reliance upon verbal selfreports in the evaluation of outcome. Almost all of the studies found positive treatment effects, either immediately after treatment or at various follow-up periods. However, periodic booster treatment sessions sometimes were necessary with paraphilias of long duration. Across the paraphilias reviewed, the literature offered tentative support for the efficacy of a multiple behavioral treatment package specifically tailored to aspects of the patient's sexual arousal pattern. The elimination of variant sexual responses in conjunction with fostering appropriate, nonvariant sexual behavior is a relevant treatment strategy in some cases. Future research should use homogeneous experimental and control subjects, obtain a pre-therapy assessment of sexual and social functioning, specify treatment goals, and use multiple outcome measures. The importance of specifying subject variables for the goal of successful subjecttreatment matches is also suggested. As a step in that direction, a checklist which noted the psychological and situational correlates of the five predominant sexual paraphilias was derived from the literature.

No abstract

No abstract