NCJ Number
114058
Date Published
Unknown
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This 90-minute audiocassette examines the social and psychological impact of incarceration on inmates and their loved ones.
Abstract
It notes that the experience of the inmate is characterized by shock, fear, loneliness, uncertainty, fear, distrust, anger, and resentment. Over time, the inmate begins to adapt to prison conditions by losing sensitivity, adopting prison values, and eventually internalizing the inmate label. Inmates' families and loved ones play a critical role in counterbalancing the negative effects of imprisonment by providing information, support, and continuity with community ties. They also play a critical role in helping the inmate adjust to release and overcome false expectations about self, family, employment and public attitudes toward ex-convicts. For inmates' families, the incarceration often results in the loss of friends and associates, as well as the financial and emotional support previously provided by the inmate. These multiple losses necessitate changes in lifestyle and routines. They also trigger a grief response characterized by shock, anger, and depression. Coping with these feelings requires that inmates' loved ones maintain their health, keep their energy level high, get information, take care of business, communicate honestly with the inmate, be responsible for and love themselves, and be sensitive to the family system. The inmate's release will again require an adjustment in lifestyle and routines that also may regenerate the grief cycle. The importance of the family's influence on the loved one's adjustment both to prison and release and on subsequent recidivism is emphasized. Additional information resources are provided.