NCJ Number
194038
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Volume: 46 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2002 Pages: 95-111
Date Published
February 2002
Length
17 pages
Annotation
A total of 209 noninmates and 169 inmates completed questionnaires that measured retrospective perceptions of 12 dimensions of family life and 1 overall assessment of quality of family life.
Abstract
Family functioning was measured with Family Profile II, an instrument that assesses 12 key areas of family functioning plus an outcome measure of the overall estimate of the quality of family life. The instrument includes subscales of kindness, unkindness, communication, disengagement, enmeshment, social bridging, financial management, work orientation, chores, family rituals, sacred/secular orientation, self-reliance, and one outcome measure, i.e., overall quality of the family system. Analysis consisted of a MANOVA with 13 dependent variables and 2 between-subjects factors (inmate versus noninmate participants and males versus females). Between the inmates and noninmates, means for all dependent variables differed significantly, except for self-reliance; however, meaningful eta-squares were found only for dimensions of bridging, disengagement, and quality of life. Among the independent-samples t tests for gender, eta-squares were not meaningful. Based on these findings, family intervention for inmates (both males and females) should include work on strengthening social networks outside the family and strengthening connections within the family. Inmates and their families could learn ways to increase the regularity of family rituals, encourage family participation, and make rituals more meaningful, thus giving the family a sense of unity and belonging both within the family and in relationship to others. 3 tables and 44 references