Social Support and Anger Expression Among Incarcerated Women

Abstract

Incarcerated women at a maximum security state facility (N= 216) completed a questionnaire concerning their perceived social support within the prison, structured activities, and perceived support from prison surrogate families. A series of regression analyses evaluated the relationship between social support measures and anger, as measured by the Spielberger State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI; 1991). Results indicated that women who perceived higher levels of support from fellow inmates tended to express higher levels of anger, while women who perceived higher levels of social support from vocational, education, and recreational activities tended to express lower levels of anger. Results also indicated that a large proportion of women in prison have family-like relationships within the prison, and that women who attest to higher levels of support from such surrogate family relationships tend to have greater difficulties with anger regulation. Results implied the importance of understanding the relational patterns of incarcerated women and the potential benefits of providing interventions for interpersonal difficulties.

Key Words:

• Women prisoners
• anger
• prison adjustment
• social support
• prison families