The psychological symptom, probability of suicide and coping ways of a group of convict and detainee

Abstract

Objective: This research was done by means of descriptive and cross-sectional research types for the purpose of determining the psychological symptoms, probability of suicide and coping ways of a group of convict and detainee. Sixty-eight detainees and convicts who were in a penal institution allied to Ministry of Justice in March 2014 constituted sample of the research. Methods: To collect data, Questionnaire Form, Symptom Checklist 90 Revised, Suicide Probability Scale, Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations-Short Form were used. Data were evaluated with descriptive statistics, t test, variance analysis and Spearman correlation analysis. Results: Average age of the participants being 33.4 +/- 8.7, they were all males. General Symptom Index point of the participants being 1.26 +/- 0.76 and point of Suicide Probability Scale being 74.22 +/- 2.9, %57.35 of them were determined to be in the high-risk group, with regard to suicide. Again, the participant's point of task-oriented coping was 21.57 +/- 0.77, emotion-oriented coping point was 21.44 +/- 0.87 and avoidance-oriented coping point was determined to be 19.19 +/- 0.96. There was a negative relationship between General Symptom Index and the age at the first crime and positive relationship between General Symptom Index and the the frequency of being sent to prison; while a negative relationship was found between the age at the first crime and suicidal ideation. Discussion: In conclusion, psychiatric symptom level and probability of suicide of the detainees and convicts who participated in the study were high and they were using task-oriented and emotion-oriented coping methods more frequently. Hence the detainees and convicts should be examined in terms of psycological problems. Necessary protective measures should be taken and coping methods should be strengthened.