NCJ Number
182513
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 44 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2000 Pages: 350-368
Date Published
June 2000
Length
19 pages
Annotation
A group of 122 young male offenders in Scotland’s largest young offender’s institution completed a shortened form of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) to examine the association of perceived parenting with self-esteem, relationships with peers and staff, and psychological distress levels.
Abstract
The participants were ages 15-22 years. They represented 25 percent of the total inmate population and were selected as randomly as possible. The participants completed semistructured interviews covering personal and family information, as well as an instrument containing 10 of the original 25 PBI items in a Likert-type scale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale. Low parental care had strong associations with both low self-esteem and increased psychological distress; low maternal care had strong associations with poorer peer relationships. In addition, poor-quality peer relationships with other inmates and low self-esteem had strong associations with increased levels of psychological distress in prison, suggesting that peer relations and self-esteem may both act as mediator variables in the association between parental care and anxiety and depression. However, results revealed no associations between self-esteem and either the quality or the number of peer relationships. Tables and 33 references (Author abstract modified)