Rose Arran, Trounson Justin, Skues Jason, Daffern Michael, Shepherd Stephane M, Pfeifer Jeffrey E, Ogloff James R P
Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Department of Psychological Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Psychiatr Psychol Law. 2019 Sep 5;26(6):886-903. doi: 10.1080/13218719.2019.1642259. eCollection 2019.
The Australian prison population is growing and becoming increasingly diverse. Yet very little research has investigated mental health concerns for multi-cultural prisoners. This mixed methods study aimed to identify the prevalence of mental health factors (wellbeing, distress and coping) in a cohort of 530 prisoners from Indigenous, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) and English-speaking backgrounds (ESB) at a maximum-security prison in Victoria, Australia. Focus group interviews were also conducted with an additional 40 prisoners. It was found that Indigenous prisoners had significantly higher levels of distress and more symptoms of anxiety and depression than CALD and ESB prisoners. CALD prisoners had a greater sense of 'feeling in control' in prison than ESB prisoners. The focus group interviews also identified several factors that contributed to mental health differences between the groups. Findings reinforce the need for a more individualised approach in addressing mental health issues for prisoners cross-culturally.
澳大利亚监狱人口不断增长且日益多样化。然而，很少有研究调查多元文化囚犯的心理健康问题。这项混合方法研究旨在确定来自澳大利亚维多利亚州一所最高安全级监狱的530名囚犯（包括原住民、文化和语言背景多样（CALD）以及英语背景（ESB））中心理健康因素（幸福感、痛苦和应对方式）的患病率。还对另外40名囚犯进行了焦点小组访谈。结果发现，原住民囚犯的痛苦程度明显高于CALD和ESB囚犯，焦虑和抑郁症状也更多。CALD囚犯在监狱中的“掌控感”比ESB囚犯更强。焦点小组访谈还确定了导致不同群体间心理健康差异的几个因素。研究结果强化了在跨文化背景下针对囚犯心理健康问题采取更个性化方法的必要性。
