Vitimação na infância, vitimação prisional e desajustamento psicológico na população reclusa em Portugal: o papel da vitimação direta na infância

Abstract

On a national level, much is still unknown regarding the prison victimization experience. There are no studies on its prevalence and even less that try to analyze its association with a history of direct and lifelong violence. Therefore, the present investigation aims to: estimate the prevalence of direct violence and lifelong victimization in inmates, both women and men, including current prison victimization and characterize their psychological adjustment according to socio-demographic and criminal record. A sample of 394 participants in situations of imprisonment was gathered in several Prison Establishments of the North and Center Region. The instruments applied were a socio-demographic and criminal questionnaire, as well as a Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and an Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). The results indicate that 88% of the participants experienced childhood adversity, being the women the ones who report having more physical abuse in their childhood. Concerning the prison victimization, 25% of the participants report having suffered some sort of violence in prison context. Regarding the psychopathological symptoms, at the Positive Symptom Index level, 50% of the participants scored above the cut off point, as well as all subscales are above the general population average. Furthermore, the participants who report having suffered prison victimization also report more childhood adversities experiences compared to those who do not report victimization in the prison context.

Date of Award	2018
Original language	Portuguese
Supervisor	Ana Rita Conde Dias (Supervisor)