As the number of incarcerated women increases in the United States, the interest in measuring how women adjust to this new living environment increases as well. Women at a maximum-security State prison were invited to participate in a study of adjustment and coping in prison. The researchers used the Prison Adjustment Questionnaire or PAQ, which is a two-part measure utilized to measure prison adjustment. The first half of the questionnaire is designed with items to assess adjustment in prison as compared to adjustment in the community. The second half or the questionnaire involves additional questions about quality of life issues. The study found that the PAQ can be utilized to validly measure prison adjustment in females. The consistency of validation across psychological measures, self-report inventories, and institutional assessments suggests a consistent measurement of the behaviors and experiences associated with adjustment to a prison environment. References