Sichuan jingshen weisheng (Jun 2022)

Relationship between defense style and family environment among male prisoners of different terms of imprisonment

  • Li Yonghang,
  • Qin Jinying,
  • Li Wenxuan,
  • Zhu Jincai,
  • Guo Huagui,
  • Gu Xuan,
  • Huang Wei,
  • Li Xuesong

DOI
https://doi.org/10.11886/scjsws20211214002
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 35, no. 3
pp. 272 – 276

Abstract

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ObjectiveTo explore the psychological defense styles and family environment among male prisoners of different terms of imprisonment， and to analyse the relationship between their psychological defense styles and family environment.MethodsA total of 200 male prisoners in a prison in Guangdong were randomly selected from April to June 2015， and they were classified into less than 5 years of imprisonment group （n=108） and 5 years or more imprisonment group （n=92）. Their defense style and family environment were evaluated by Defense Style Questionnaire （DSQ） and Family Environment Scale-Chinese Version （FES-CV）. Pearson correlation analysis was used to test the correlation between each scale score.ResultsThe factor scores of immature defense mechanism and intermediate defense mechanism of DSQ in the group with less than 5 years of imprisonment were lower than those in the group with 5 years or more imprisonment， with statistically significant differences （t=4.198， 1.137， P<0.01）. The scores of FES-CV family intimacy， emotional expression and organizational factors in less than 5 years of imprisonment group were higher than those in 5 years or more imprisonment group （t=3.122， 2.993， 2.203， P<0.01）， and the scores of contradiction factors were lower than those in 5 years or more imprisonment group （t=-3.682， P<0.01）. The scores of DSQ immature， intermediate defense mechanism and concealment factor of male prisoners were negatively correlated with the scores of FES-CV family intimacy and emotional expression factor （r=-0.428~-0.172， P<0.05 or 0.01）， and the scores of 4 factors in DSQ were all positively correlated with the scores of contradiction factor in FES-CV （r=0.175~0.384， P<0.05 or 0.01）.ConclusionCompared with male prisoners with less than 5 years of imprisonment， those with 5 years or more are prone to adopt immature and intermediate defense mechanisms， and their family environments are characterized by apparent contradiction and a lack of family intimacy， emotional expression and organization. Furthermore， the defects of psychological defense mechanism of prisoners are related to their family environment.

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