Prisoners' coping skills and involvement in serious prison misconduct and violence

Abstract

Prison misconduct and specifically prison violence generate serious problems in prisons across the United States. Most of the research on prison misconduct has focused on static rather than dynamic characteristics of prisoners. This study examined a dynamic personal attribute, prisoners' ability to cope. The research tested whether prisoners' ways of coping affect their involvement in serious prison misconduct and violence. The study also examined the traditional predictors of serious prison misconduct and violence and their relationship to ways of coping.