Introduction
Life in a prison at a glance looks haunting and horrifying that comes along with an added burden of issues related to esteem, mental disorders, financial constraints and exposure to high risk behaviors. United States has two major types of prisons; the state and the federal prison where each of them have different security levels depending on the severity of the crime, punishment and facilities provided to the offenders. Although the reason behind incarceration differs from one individual to the other, imprisonment leaves a lasting adverse effect on the life of the prisoners. The life before imprisonment completely changes when a person is freed from jail. This is not only because of the strangling space in which he had to live, but the trauma of dealing with the environment of a prison drastically transforms the life of the prisoner after he gets out of incarceration. Consequently, he has to adjust with a number of aspects such as getting back to routine life by not only managing education or work, but he also tends to struggle with self esteem, image and various other fluctuations (Zamble & Porporino, 1988). Therefore, since incarceration affects the behavior of the prisoner, this study aims to examine the psycho-social issues of the prisoner by also focusing upon the behavioral adjustment he has to deal with once he is freed.
Although California and Texas are the two states of America with the highest number of prisoners, the recent report presented in 2011 reveals the decline in the rate of prisoners in California. This is evident from the fact that from the year 2009 to 2011, California experienced a 0.1% drop in its prisoners (Carson & Sabol, 2011). However, despite the substantial decrease in the number of prisoners in California, the other states of America still experience a considerable increase in their number of prisoners. Not only this, a significant difference is also noticeable on the basis of race and gender. Literature has also demonstrated the positive relation between the longer duration of imprisonment and the difficulty in adjusting or getting back to normal life (Jung, 2011). Furthermore, the prison environment which is a typical place with a different level of interaction with the inmates, varying family support/meet up and the limited facilities related to education, health and other vital areas for living, negatively impacts the overall behavior of the individuals. Hence, this study aims at analyzing the impact of incarceration on the psycho-social behavioral adjustments/ issues of prisoners by specially comparing their life in prison and after release.
Participants
This research would undertake a longitudinal approach as data would be collected from a chosen sample size several times during the study process. A cohort of 10 individuals would be drawn from a population of working males and females falling in the age range of 18-50 years belonging to the low security level State prison who are released after spending at least one year and not more than 5 years in the prison. The participants would be selected via a purposive sampling since the research tends to target a specific type of the prisoners. As compared to the federal level cases which are dealt in the federal prison, this research would target the prisoners of the state prisoner who are punished to break the state laws (Carson & Sabol, 2011). The low security level is chosen because it is not only easy and less harmful to access, but also because of evaluating the participants on the basis of interaction with the inmates and the facilities which they received. A control group of 5 participants who have been freed for one month would be interviewed regarding their behavior so that the comparison between the control group and the cohort of this study could be assessed. The cohort of this study would be assessed at 6 months after release, followed by other assessments after six months for two years. Also, the research would target males and females both along with taking note of their education and employment background. The participants would be divided according to the age group of 18 to 30 years, 31-50 years. The chosen age group is essential in finding the correlation between behavior problems in accordance to the age.
Research Paradigm/ Context
This longitudinal research would adhere to a positivist epistemology as the study incorporates quantitative as well as qualitative method of data collection. This paradigm is suitable for the current study as positivist approach incorporates empiricism and observation which are a key to the causal link between incarceration and psycho-social functioning. As this study is examining the influence of incarceration on human behavior, positivist paradigm is appropriate because of its focus which is centered on the cause and effect relationship.
Research Design
This is a longitudinal study which aims at analyzing the impact of incarceration on the psycho-social functioning of the prisoners especially upon release. For this reason, the key variables that would be addressed in the research include the interpersonal relationship before, during (with the inmates) and after incarceration, performance in routine activities such as educational institute or workplace before and after incarceration, facilities received in the prison, self esteem and development of high risk behaviors after release. Although there are a number of studies that assess the impact of incarceration on the varying behaviors of individuals, this study would specifically focus upon the psycho-social problems and the consequent adjustment issues made by the sufferer after release. These variables would be measure via an administered survey and an interview where the survey would incorporate psychological tests and scales for in depth understanding.
Data Collection
Since this study would use an interview and an administered survey to collect data, scales such as Rosenberg (1965) Self-Esteem Scale would be used to measure the self esteem of the individual during incarceration, one week after release followed by half yearly and year end measurement. Self esteem would act as a moderating variable which will influence the difference in the behavior of individuals across the longitudinal study. In a similar manner, interpersonal relationships would be measured using the Quality of Relationship Inventory which would specifically analyze the relationship between the prisoner and his family and peers after release. Moreover, since the working individuals are the participants of this study, the role-based performance scale (Welbourne, Johnson, & Erez, 1997) would be used to assess their performance at work after release. Since this research also aims at analyzing the way people cope with difficult situations, COPE (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989) would be used to analyze the coping behavior of the participants. Interviews would be conducted that would target about the stress, about the environment of the prison, the interaction with the inmates and the facilities received. Also, the participants would be asked about the family support they received during incarceration. The family and the supervisor/work colleague would also be interviewed after obtaining the consent from the participant in order to validate the data obtained from the participant.
Research Procedure
Since the basic purpose of this research is to analyze the impact of incarceration on the coping behavior, interpersonal relationships and work performance, this study would undertake a mixed method approach. The cohort of this study would incorporate individuals between 18-50 years who have been released from the low level state prison after spending a time period of one to five years in the prison and have started working after release. Although the cohort would be interviewed at different times of a year, they would be administered to complete authentic scales and measures in order to accurately measure their behavior. The tools of analysis (interview and administered questionnaire) would be based on variables of self esteem, interpersonal relationships, coping behavior and work performance. Since the existing studies suggest that prisoners after release face a number of consequences, a cohort of 5 participants would be interviewed and asked to complete the same measures that would be later used on the cohort of the study in order to compare the difference in behavior at various points after release. The control group would only be assessed once after one month of release whereas the cohort would be assessed after 6 months of release and the follow up tools would be used after every 6 month for two consecutive years. The participants of this study would be tracked down via the data obtained through the state prison. They would be given a consent form in which strict measures of confidentially would be discussed in which their identities would be kept confidential and they would not be taken for clinical trials. However, permission would be taken to interview their family members and work colleagues so that the data collected through the questionnaire could be validated. Also, while using the tools for analysis on the control group, the interview might reveal important aspects that could be added on later while assessing the cohort. The study would be conducted over a period of two years.
Ethical consideration- Risks and Benefits
Since the confidentiality and respect of the subjects is of vital importance to any research, there is a dire need to look at the risks and benefits of conducting this study by specifically focusing on the care required. For this reason, this study would track down the participants of the control group and the cohort through the state prison records. Once the research framework has been explained to the in-charge of the low level security state prison, the person in charge would be asked to track down the participants between 18-50 years through the record who have spent a time period of less than 5 years but more than a year in the prison. Once this process has been established, the in-charge would be asked to contact them via telephone and ask about their willingness to participate in the research. They would also be told about the various times they would be interviewed along with interviewing their family and supervisor once. Only working participants who agree to be a part of the research would be shortlisted and their contact numbers would be handed over to the investigator. To ensure confidentiality, the in charge would not be asked anything about the reason for incarceration or any other personal details of the shortlisted participants. Consequently, they will be contacted through phone and if they are willing to meet, the assessment via questionnaire and interview would be conducted in person else through phone. In this way, their identities would remain anonymous and if they agree to meet up, then individual interviews would take place in order to respect the identity of each participant.
Once the data is collected, it would be analyzed through the statistical software (SPSS) where responses of the questionnaire would be coded and entered in numeric. The interview responses would be analyzed via the constant comparison method and to keep the identities confidential, the names of the participants would be coded in alphanumeric (A1, A2,). Since the cohort is based upon low security level state prison, there would be little harm in collecting information from the respective participants where their indulgence in risky behaviors would not be measured. In this way, the personal details would not be a part of the research regardless of the basic demographics that will help conduct the study as desired.
The research on analyzing the impact of incarceration of coping behavior, interpersonal relationship and work performance would help the policy makers scrutinize the treatment and facilities provided in the prison. It will also impact the behavior of the society in the way they treat and deal with individuals who have been incarcerated. As a result, a positive change would be made possible that would help improve the psychosocial functioning of people after their release from prisons.
Conclusion
Imprisonment is a state of terror linked with falling down a deep dark pit. Incarceration leaves a long lasting impact on the behavior of individuals which continue to fluctuate after their release. Hence, a prison experience greatly affects the well being and normal functioning of individuals. For this reason, this study aims at analyzing the impact of incarceration on specific psychosocial factors such as the coping behavior, interpersonal relationships and work performance. To conduct an in depth analysis, this study would undertake a cohort of 10 individuals who would be interviewed and asked to respond to an administered survey after every 6 months during a period of 2 years of release. A control group would also be administered in order to compare the difference in behaviors observed at various points of time after release. Hence, the behavioral scrutiny of participants under this study would help the policymakers to alter the facilities being provided in the prison. Also, the findings of this study would greatly impact the society which will improve their attitude and way of treatment towards prisoners.
REFERENCES
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Welbourne, T. M., Johnson, D. E. & Erez, A. (1997). The role-based performance scale: Validity analysis of a theory-based measure (CAHRS Working Paper #97-05). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies. http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cahrswp/147
Zamble, E. & Porporino, F.J. (1988). Coping, Behavior, and Adaptation in Prison Inmates. USA: Springer-Verlag.
