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Life events and prisoners.
Archives of General Psychiatry
|February 1, 1978
Summary
Individuals incarcerated in prisons experience a higher frequency of life events before imprisonment. This suggests that the Schedule of Recent Experience (SRE) may predict criminal behavior and antisocial lifestyles.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Criminology
- Sociology
Background:
- Life events and environmental changes can influence behavior.
- Understanding the factors leading to incarceration is crucial for rehabilitation and prevention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To retrospectively examine the correlation between the accumulation of life events and prison incarceration.
- To explore the predictive value of the Schedule of Recent Experience (SRE) for socially deviant behavior.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of 176 male inmates from federal and state prisons.
- Utilized the Schedule of Recent Experience (SRE) to derive life change scores.
- Compared life event frequencies of inmates to a normative group.
Main Results:
- Inmates exhibited escalating annual life change scores prior to incarceration.
- Race, age, and education were identified as variables influencing life change scores.
- Prisoners' coping lifestyles were found to reflect antisocial and criminal behavior.
Conclusions:
- A higher frequency of life events is associated with prison incarceration.
- The SRE shows potential for predicting socially deviant and criminal behavior.
- Incarcerated individuals develop coping mechanisms that manifest as antisocial tendencies.