Aggressiveness, criminal lifestyle and prison adjustment

Abstract

The study of inmates´ adjustment to prison and prison classification may help to prevent risky situations and promote a more effective institutional treatment. This correlational study explores the relation between aggressiveness, criminal lifestyle, and adjustment to prison, attending also to socio-demographic and penal variables. Aggressiveness was measured through the Aggression Questionnaire and the Lifestyle Criminality Screening Form-Revised assessed the criminal lifestyle. Prison adjustment includes two indicators: infraction reports and accesses to the clinical services. A sample of thirty-one Portuguese male prisoners from a local prison was assessed during an observation period of five months. Results show that aggressiveness, drug history, and shorter sentences predict a poor adjustment. The scores on Aggression Questionnaire are associated with both infractions reports and accesses to the clinical services.