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Symptoms of Psychopathology among Jail Prisoners

The Effects of Exposure to the Jail Environment

Rutgers University

This article examines the contribution of person and environment factors to symptoms of psychopathology among jail prisoners. The data challenge the conventional view that a disproportionate number of jail prisoners exhibit symptoms of psychological and psychiatric disorders because they are mentally ill before they enter jail. The SCL-90 was administered to a sample of jail prisoners (N = 339) within 72 hours of confinement. Initially, the respondents were asked to rate symptoms since then had been confined and the week prior to their arrest and confinement. The instrument was administered again to available members of the sample (N = 102) after 5 days of incarceration, at which time the respondents were asked to rate their symptoms since their initial interview. A repeated measures analysis of variance of prisoner symptom scores for the three rating intervals indicated that for several dimensions symptoms increase markedly during incarceration's initial period and then stabilize or diminish after five days of confinement. An examination of the symptom scores in conjunction with measures of history of psychological disorder suggested that although those with a history of disorder had higher symptom scores for most dimensions than those without such a history, for some dimensions, the symptom scores of those without a history of disorder showed a sharper increase in response to incarceration than did those of their psychologically troubled counterparts. The findings demonstrate that jail can have considerable effects on symptom levels, and these effects are not restricted to those who we normally view as susceptible. The results suggest that those who hold an exclusively person-centered view of psychological disturbance among jail prisoners should expand their view to include the contribution of the jail environment.

Criminal Justice and Behavior, Vol. 14, No. 3, 288-310 (1987)
DOI: 10.1177/0093854887014003003


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