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Effect of time in prison on prisoners’ use of coping strategies

Phil Reed (Swansea University, Swansea, UK)
Yousef Alenazi (Swansea University, Swansea, UK)
Fenella Potterton (Swansea University, Swansea, UK)

International Journal of Prisoner Health

ISSN: 1744-9200

Article publication date: 1 January 2009

456

Abstract

Prisoners from two institutions (a low security and a high security prison) were studied to explore the coping strategies used in stressful situations, and the relationship between prison sentence length and the coping strategies employed. Prisoners completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and the Ways of Coping Scale. Coping strategies that focused on emotions, rather than on the source problem, were found to be most often employed. Shorter‐term prisoners adopted problem‐focused strategies more than longer‐term prisoners, while longer‐term prisoners adopted emotion‐focused strategies more than shorter‐term prisoners. These results are discussed with reference to the influence of the environment on coping strategy.

Keywords

Citation

Reed, P., Alenazi, Y. and Potterton, F. (2009), "Effect of time in prison on prisoners’ use of coping strategies", International Journal of Prisoner Health, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 16-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449200802692060

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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