(In)security in prison

Abstract

The main aim of this research was to determine the level of security deprivation in convicted persons in different types of correctional institutions, and to determine the relation between deprivation and demographic, socio-psychological, criminal and penal characteristics. Another goal of this research was to obtain scientific information about the quality and intensity of security deprivation, as one of the consequences of imprisonment and perception differences of different categories of convicted persons. The sample consisted of 183 male convicts serving their sentence in Correctional institution for juvenile delinquents and young adults in Valjevo, Correctional institution Padinska Skela, Correctional Institution Požarevac, and County prison in Pančevo. The examinees were questioned by means of a general questionnaire for collecting data on the variables related to basic criminal, penal, and socio-psychological information, and by the Scale for testing security deprivation - SIG (Radovanović, 1992), consisting of 34 questions following the principle of the Likert scale (Cronbach's α=0,952). Research results indicate that about 15% of the examinees express low level of deprivation, about 56% increased level, and about 28% high level of deprivation. Security deprivation is significantly related to age (r=0,163; p=0,028), in a way that the level of deprivation increases with age. There is no correlation with other tested independent variables. Such situation raises questions about respecting the rules related to categorization of prisons, placing convicts in prisons, special protection of old people in prison, separating aggressive and dangerous convicts, monitoring their behavior, controlling informal groups of convicts, and similar problems related to imprisonment.