Assessing prison adjustment among young adult offenders: Changes, correlates, and outcomes
| DOI | 10.1177/1477370819850944 |
| Published date | 01 May 2021 |
| Date | 01 May 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
research-article2019
Article
European Journal of Criminology
2021, Vol. 18(3) 366 –385
Assessing prison adjustment
© The Author(s) 2019
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https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370819850944
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Changes, correlates, and
outcomes
Leonel C. Gonçalves ,
Jérôme Endrass and Astrid Rossegger
Office of Corrections, Canton of Zurich, Switzerland
University of Konstanz, Germany
Randolph C. Grace
University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Anja J. E. Dirkzwager
Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), The Netherlands
Abstract
This longitudinal study investigated the self-reported adjustment of 75 young adults (aged 17–22
years) newly admitted to a Portuguese prison, and examines changes, correlates, and outcomes
of their prison adjustment. The prisoners were assessed at the first, third, and sixth month after
their entry in prison. Regression analyses revealed that, overall, adjustment problems remained
relatively stable during the first six months of incarceration. Having more prison visits, a lower
educational level, and being White were associated with more adjustment problems in general.
Adjustment problems were, in turn, associated with subsequent mental health symptoms and
severe disciplinary infractions. The current study shows that self-report measures may be useful
in assessing the adjustment of young adult offenders’ over time in prison.
Keywords
Longitudinal research, self-report measures, prison adjustment, Prison Adjustment
Questionnaire, young adult offenders
Corresponding author:
Leonel C. Gonçalves, Department of Mental Health Services, Office of Corrections, Canton of Zurich,
Hohlstrasse 552, Zurich, 8090, Switzerland.
Email: leonel.cg@gmail.com
Gonçalves et al.
367
Introduction
The way individuals adjust to imprisonment has generated great interest among research-
ers, practitioners, and policy makers (Dhami et al., 2007). Imprisonment is one of the most
stressful life experiences (Holmes and Rahe, 1967) and includes several deprivations of
basic human needs, such as the loss of liberty, goods and services, interpersonal relation-
ships, autonomy, and security (Sykes, 1958). Consequently, a prison experience may result
in a range of adjustment problems, such as self-harm, suicide attempts, distress, and violent
behaviors (for example, Harvey, 2012; Liebling, 1999; Toch and Adams, 2002), which may
jeopardize the safety of both prisoners and prison staff. Adjustment problems in prison may
also have post-release consequences (Haney, 2003), including a higher chance of reoffend-
ing (Cochran et al., 2014; Gaes and Camp, 2009; Trulson et al., 2011).
A substantial number of empirical studies have examined adjustment to prison life and
different theories have been proposed to explain prisoner behavior (see Gonçalves, 2014,
for an overview). Among the major theoretical frameworks, the deprivation theory (Sykes,
1958) focuses on the characteristics of the prison situation and argues that the so-called
‘pains of imprisonment’, which deprive people of basic needs, are the main factors affect-
ing adjustment to prison life. In contrast, the importation theory (Irwin and Cressey, 1962)
argues that how people adjust to life in prison is the result of their pre-existing background
characteristics, being an extension of previously held values, attitudes, and experiences.
The deprivation and importation theories have received vast empirical support (for exam-
ple, Crew, 2011; Day et al., 2015; Listwan et al., 2013), pointing to the importance of
diverse personal and contextual factors (for literature reviews, see Gadon et al., 2006;
Gendreau et al., 1997; Gonçalves et al., 2014; Schenk and Fremouw, 2012; Steiner et al.,
2014). At present, it is generally presumed that a combination of the two theoretical mod-
els is best able to explain adjustment to life in prison.
Although adjustment to prison is a relatively well-covered topic for adults, far less is
known about the adjustment of young adults (Trulson, 2007), especially outside Anglo-
Saxon countries. This is surprising because younger prisoners may be particularly at risk of
behavioral and emotional problems, and may have special needs related to their still devel-
oping executive functions, such as decision making and risk taking (see Farrington et al.,
2012, for more details). Furthermore, most research studied prisoners’ adjustment based on
official prison records. Although these records are objective measures, they do not give
voice to prisoners’ personal experiences and may be biased. Finally, it is commonly assumed
that inmate adjustment changes over the course of a prison spell, but most existing studies
are cross-sectional in nature and, therefore, are unable to examine developmental patterns of
adaptation (Zamble and Porporino, 1988). The present longitudinal study focuses on the
self-reported prison adjustment of young adult offenders in Portugal, and explores the devel-
opment of their adjustment problems during imprisonment, the factors associated with these
problems, and the potential consequences of these adjustment problems.
Prison adjustment
Adjustment to prison has been defined in different ways (Van Tongeren and Klebe, 2010).
Early studies focused on the concept of ‘prisonization’, referring to ‘the assimilation, in
368
European Journal of Criminology 18(3)
greater or lesser degree, of the folkways, mores, customs, and culture of the penitentiary’
(Clemmer, 1958: 299). More recently, researchers have studied more specific psycho-
emotional reactions (for example, mental health problems) and behavioral responses (for
example, violence) to imprisonment (Dhami et al., 2007). The majority of existing studies
have examined disciplinary infractions as an indicator of adjustment problems, illustrat-
ing the fact that security concerns are of paramount importance in prisons (Adams, 1992;
Gendreau et al., 1997; Trulson, 2007; Wright et al., 1985). In addition, a few studies have
focused on healthcare issues, such as the use of mental and physical healthcare services.
The prison situation can result in a range of clinical problems and associated treatment
needs, which may also be an indicator of adjustment difficulties (Gonçalves, 2014; Wright
et al., 1985).
Over time, a number of assessment tools have been developed to assess prison adjust-
ment. Initially, tools were derived from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
(Hathaway and McKinley, 1943). However, these personality-based instruments pro-
duced inconsistent results and lacked validity (Walters, 1992). Subsequent tools assessed
prison adjustment either through objective indices (for example, Prison Adjustment
Index, Wolfgang, 1961) such as work and disciplinary records or through self-report
measures completed by prison staff (for example, Prison Behavior Rating Scale, Cooke,
1998) or prisoners themselves (for example, Prison Adjustment Questionnaire, Wright
et al., 1985). Whereas the former type of tools focuses on observable outcomes and does
not require participants’ reports, the latter provides a more general description of pris-
oner adjustment, including a variety of coping difficulties common in prison, such as
social conflicts, deviant behavior, and distress. Although self-reports can be susceptible
to problems such as recall bias and under- or over-reporting, it has been shown that they
can be as valid as official records in assessing prisoner adjustment (Daggett and Camp,
2009; Steiner and Wooldredge, 2014).
In sum, adjustment to prison can be defined as a process whereby behavior or subjec-
tive experience alters to fit in the new environment. It is a multidimensional construct
that includes biological, psychological, and social components, which can be measured
through self-reports or official prison measures.
Prison Adjustment Questionnaire
The Prison Adjustment Questionnaire (PAQ) is one self-report questionnaire that may be
useful to measure the adjustment of prisoners. Wright et al. (1985) developed the PAQ
with a sample of 942 adult male prisoners detained in 10 medium- and maximum-secu-
rity facilities in the US. It was created to measure inmates’ self-perceptions of adjustment
problems, taking into account concerns about prison control and security, as well as
emotional and psychological distress that inmates might experience (Wright et al., 1985).
The tool addresses 11 problems that individuals may experience during imprisonment,
representing behavioral, psychological, and physical dimensions. An exploratory factor
analysis of the 11 items revealed three factors: (1) external (problems in relating to other
people), (2) internal (distress occurring within the individual), and (3) physical (real and
tangible physical problems). Several background characteristics were associated with
higher levels of different adjustment problems, including age, ethnicity, education,
Gonçalves et al.
369
marital status, drug use, age at entry in prison, type of crime, sentence length, recidivism,
and violence history. In addition, the external factor was correlated with assaultive disci-
plinary infractions in prison.
The psychometric properties of the PAQ were also investigated in a sample of 777
maximum-security female prisoners in the US (Warren et...
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