Department of Clinical Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, 9038, Tromsö, Norway.
Division of Mental Health and Substance Use, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsö, Norway.
BMC Psychol. 2022 Jul 28;10(1):185. doi: 10.1186/s40359-022-00895-5.
Incarcerated individuals have poor mental health compared to the general population. Social support has a beneficial effect on mental health. The buffering model proposes that social support facilitates coping under stressful conditions, while the main effects model suggests that belonging to social networks and having positive social interactions are beneficial for mental health. Prisons are a highly interesting context for studying social support, as imprisonment is perceived as stressful and disrupts social relationships and the availability of support. This study aims to explore incarcerated individuals' perceptions of social support from various sources in the transition from community to prison, its perceived significance for mental health, and the opportunities and barriers to accessing social support in a Norwegian prison context.
The experiences of eight incarcerated individuals from a prison in Northern Norway were gathered through conducting individual in-depth interviews. The data analysis was inspired by Charmaz's version of Grounded Theory.
Social support from peers was perceived to be important for the well-being and preserving of mental health in prison. Support from informal sources outside prison and prison officers were not granted the same significance by the participants. Although prison life was perceived as stressful, social support in the form of companionship, the feeling of belonging, shared activities, and everyday conversations were more important for the participants than support focusing on coping with the stress of incarceration.
Peers are perceived to be the most important source of social support, and vital for well-being and mental health in prison. Barriers to support from family, friends and prison officers may amplify the significance of support from peers.
与普通人群相比，监禁人员的心理健康状况较差。社会支持对心理健康有有益的影响。缓冲模型提出，社会支持有助于在压力条件下应对，而主要影响模型则表明，属于社交网络并进行积极的社交互动对心理健康有益。监狱是研究社会支持的一个非常有趣的环境，因为监禁被认为是有压力的，会破坏社会关系和支持的可用性。本研究旨在探讨监禁人员在从社区过渡到监狱时对来自各种来源的社会支持的看法，以及这种支持对心理健康的重要性，以及在挪威监狱环境中获得社会支持的机会和障碍。
通过对挪威北部一所监狱的 8 名被监禁者进行个体深入访谈，收集了他们的经验。数据分析受到 Charmaz 的扎根理论版本的启发。
同伴的社会支持被认为对监狱中的幸福感和心理健康的维持很重要。来自监狱外非正式来源和监狱官员的支持，并没有得到参与者的同等重视。尽管监狱生活被认为是有压力的，但以陪伴、归属感、共同活动和日常对话形式的社会支持，对参与者来说比关注应对监禁压力的支持更重要。
同伴被认为是最重要的社会支持来源，对监狱中的幸福感和心理健康至关重要。来自家人、朋友和监狱官员的支持的障碍可能会放大同伴支持的重要性。
