Meijers Jesse, Harte Joke M, Meynen Gerben, Cuijpers Pim, Scherder Erik J A
Section Clinical Neuropsychology, Department of Clinical, Neuro- and Developmental Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Front Psychol. 2018 Feb 1;9:69. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00069. eCollection 2018.
Prison can be characterized as an impoverished environment encouraging a sedentary lifestyle with limited autonomy and social interaction, which may negatively affect self-control and executive function. Here, we aim to study the effects of imprisonment on self-control and executive functions, and we report the change in neuropsychological outcome after 3 months of imprisonment. Participants were 37 male inmates in a remand prison in Amsterdam, Netherlands, who completed six tests of a computerized neuropsychological test battery (the Cambridge Automated Neuropsychological Test Battery) in the first week of arrival. Participants were retested after 3 months of imprisonment. Change in performance was tested using the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test. After 3 months of imprisonment, risk taking significantly increased (measured as an increase in the proportion of available points used for betting) and attention significantly deteriorated (measured as increased variability in reaction times on a sustained attention task), with large to medium effect sizes. In contrast, planning significantly improved (measured with a task analog to the Tower of London) with a medium effect size. Our study suggests that 3 months of imprisonment in an impoverished environment may lead to reduced self-control, measured as increased risk taking and reduced attentional performance. This is a significant and societally relevant finding, as released prisoners may be less capable of living a lawful life than they were prior to their imprisonment, and may be more prone to impulsive risk-taking behavior. In other words, the impoverished environment may contribute to an enhanced risk of reoffending.
监狱可被描述为一个贫困的环境，它鼓励久坐不动的生活方式，自主性和社交互动有限，这可能会对自我控制和执行功能产生负面影响。在此，我们旨在研究监禁对自我控制和执行功能的影响，并报告监禁3个月后神经心理学结果的变化。参与者是荷兰阿姆斯特丹一所还押监狱的37名男性囚犯，他们在抵达的第一周完成了一套计算机化神经心理学测试组合（剑桥自动化神经心理学测试组合）的六项测试。在监禁3个月后对参与者进行了重新测试。使用威尔科克森符号秩检验来测试表现的变化。监禁3个月后，冒险行为显著增加（以用于下注的可用点数比例增加来衡量），注意力显著下降（以持续注意力任务中反应时间变异性增加来衡量），效应大小为中到大。相比之下，计划能力显著提高（通过与伦敦塔类似的任务来衡量），效应大小为中等。我们的研究表明，在贫困环境中监禁3个月可能会导致自我控制能力下降，表现为冒险行为增加和注意力表现下降。这是一个重要且与社会相关的发现，因为获释囚犯可能比入狱前更没有能力过上合法的生活，并且可能更容易出现冲动冒险行为。换句话说，贫困环境可能会增加再次犯罪的风险。
