Социальные представления осуждённых об отношении общества к лицам, находившимся в заключении

Abstract

The article analyzes the content of the social perception of convicts about the attitude of society towards ever imprisoned persons. It is noted that the very fact of a conviction often causes a wary attitude of people towards former convicts, which significantly complicates the process of their adaptation to life in freedom. The negative assessment of the personality and behavior of criminals which still persists in public opinion even after they have served their sentence and this contributes to the fact that convicts feel themselves as a group being subjected to stigmatization. An empirical study tested the hypothesis that in convicted persons’ view, who have served their sentences in places of deprivation of liberty, are still criminals in public opinion who constitute a menace even after their release. The assessment of society position about people with conviction by convicts is associated with the experience of those who were in places of liberty deprivation. Repeatedly convicted persons as compared with those who were convicted for the first time are surer in negative and biased treatment of former prisoners.
 To study the content of social perceptions a mixed research strategy was used. It consists in integrating of methods for collecting and analyzing data of qualitative and quantitative strategies. The study used specially designed interview plan and rating scale constructed on the basis of the data obtained with its help. The research sample includes groups of convicts formed depending on the number of sentences served. The results of the research allow us to conclude that in convicts’ perception there is a negative society attitude towards former prisoners which manifests itself in social distance from them in various spheres of social interaction. Persons who have previously served their sentences in places of deprivation of liberty, unlike those convicted for the first time, demonstrate greater confidence in the discriminatory nature of society’s attitude towards their group.