Personal Control and Prisoner Adjustment - An Empirical Test of a Proposed Model

This study examined inmate control and adjustment to prison. The factor structure of 18 adjustment variables reported by prison inmates in 5 prisons was identified by means of a factor analysis. Four independent factors were identified, stress/anxiety, prisonization, misconducts, and lack of involvement. The inmates' responses to incarceration as measured by factor scores were examined as a function of three components of control: general expectancy, perceived control, and environmental control. Results indicated strong support for the importance of control in influencing inmate adjustment to prison. However, no support was found for a person-environment fit model of inmate adjustment proposed in an earlier paper. (Author abstract)