Self-Concept Changes Associated With Incarceration in Female Prisoners

Abstract

Changes in the self-concept associated with a period of incarceration were investigated. Female prisoners in the Iowa Women's Reformatory were administered the usual admissions test battery plus a 24-item Self-Concept Scale consisting of bipolar adjectives. When the same scale was readministered following a six-month period of incarceration, general improvement in the level of self-concept was evident. Moreover, some of the changes were related to personality characteristics, as measured by the MMPI, and educational level. The admission scores on seven of the MMPI clinical scales were significantly correlated negatively to the admissions self-concept scores; however, only three clinical scales were significantly related to self-concept scores obtained after a six-month period of incarceration.

Psychological effects of imprisonment on confined individuals.

“…Discrepant results were reported. Four studies (Bennett, 1974a;Gattshall, 1970;Gendreau, Gibson, Surridge, & Hug, 1973;Hannum, Borgen, & Anderson, 1978) found that inmates viewed themselves more favorably after months of confinement, whereas the other two studies suggested that self-concept either decreased (Fichtler, Zimmermann, & Moore, 1973) or remained unchanged (Nieberding, 1976). One study (Hepburn & Stratton, 1977) examined the relationship between self-esteem and sentence phase and suggested that fluctuations in selfesteem are more directly related to preprison and extraprison variables than they are to intraprison variables.…”

Η Επίδραση Της Άσκησης Στη Βελτίωση Ψυχολογικών Παραμέτρων Της Ποιότητας Ζωής Και Της Στάσης Απέναντι Στη Φυσική Δραστηριότητα Κρατουμένων Ελληνικών Φυλακών

“…Ωστόσο, τα αποτελέσματα σε σχέση με την καταστροφική επίδραση της φυλάκισης στην αυτοεκτίμηση είναι, στην καλύτερη περίπτωση, μικτά. Παρά κάποιες εμπειρικές μελέτες που υποστηρίζουν τον ισχυρισμό ότι ο εαυτός είναι μειωμένος κατά τη φυλάκιση (Hepburn & Stratton, 1977;Wormith, 1984), άλλοι συγγραφείς είτε δεν μπόρεσαν να ταυτοποιήσουν τέτοιο αποτέλεσμα, ή έχουν πράγματι βρει αντίθετα αποτελέσματα (Atchley & McCabe, 1968;Bennett, 1974;Bryson & Groves, 1989;Bukstel & Kilmann, 1980;Hannum, Borgen & Anderson, 1978;Power, 1990;Zamble & Porporino, 1988;Evans, Copus, Sullenberger, & Hodgkinson, 1996;Harter, 1990). Επιπλέον, αρκετές μελέτες πέρα από το στενό πλαίσιο της φυλάκισης και το στιγματισμό των ατόμων αποδεικνύουν ότι δεν παρατηρείται γενικά μείωση της αυτοεκτίμησης (Leary & Baumeister, 2000;Crocker & Quinn, 2000).…”