McLean Elisabeth, Livingston Tyler, Mitchell Sean, Singer Jonathan
Department of Psychological Sciences, Texas Tech University.
Department of Psychology, Angelo State University.
Psychol Crime Law. 2024;30(10):1559-1579. doi: 10.1080/1068316x.2023.2220870. Epub 2023 Jun 6.
Family members of incarcerated persons may experience grief related to the incarceration. We examined laypeople's perceptions of family members grieving the loss of an individual to incarceration. Participants ( = 1,095) were randomized to read vignettes that varied by grief trajectory (prolonged vs. resilient), race (Black vs. White vs. Latine), and crime type (violent vs. non-violent). Participants answered questions assessing grief response appropriateness, comfort providing support to the grieving person, beliefs that the grieving person should seek therapy, and how severe they believed the incarcerated person's crime was. Results indicated that prolonged grief trajectories and greater perceived crime severity were associated with decreased ratings of grief response appropriateness. Participants were more likely to endorse the need for therapy-seeking for individuals with prolonged grief (vs. resilience). Participants were less likely to recommend therapy for Black (vs. White) individuals, and women were more likely to recommend seeking therapy than men. The results suggest stigma might exist toward family members grieving the loss of individuals who committed crimes perceived to be more severe by laypeople, which could contribute to negative bereavement outcomes.
被监禁者的家庭成员可能会经历与监禁相关的悲痛。我们研究了外行人对家庭成员因亲人被监禁而悲痛的看法。参与者（n = 1095）被随机分配阅读不同的短文，这些短文在悲痛轨迹（长期悲痛与恢复力强）、种族（黑人、白人、拉丁裔）和犯罪类型（暴力犯罪与非暴力犯罪）方面有所不同。参与者回答了一些问题，这些问题评估了悲痛反应的适当性、为悲痛者提供安慰支持的情况、认为悲痛者应该寻求治疗的信念，以及他们认为被监禁者的罪行有多严重。结果表明，长期的悲痛轨迹和更高的感知犯罪严重性与悲痛反应适当性评分降低有关。参与者更有可能认可长期悲痛的人（相对于恢复力强的人）需要寻求治疗。参与者为黑人（相对于白人）推荐治疗的可能性较小，而且女性比男性更有可能推荐寻求治疗。结果表明，对于因亲人犯下外行人认为更严重罪行而悲痛的家庭成员可能存在污名化现象，这可能导致负面的丧亲结果。
