NCJ Number
75459
Date Published
1973
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Two studies undertaken to investigate the effects of population concentration on the behavior of prison inmates are discussed.
Abstract
The assumption was that high population concentration is stressful to humans and results in pathological behavior. Prisons were considered appropriate settings for this research since wide ranges in crowding conditions exist, long-term observation can be conducted, biographical data are available, and social and spatial density factors can be separated. An initial sample of 49 inmates at the Texarkana facility were administered mood-state self-reports to determine if the reports would be sensitive to variations in crowding. None of the scales yielded statistically reliable relationships with spatial density. With regard to social density (actual and potential interpersonal relationships within a particular housing unit), only one of the three scales -- the anxiety scale -- yielded a significant, although modest, relationship. For a second sample of 36 inmates, no significant relationships among any of the mood states and variations in either spatial or social density were discovered. A measure of the rate of psychosomatic illness complaints was also obtained for this sample to determine levels of psychological stress. Significant differences in the rate of complaints between low and high social density conditions were found. However, when the length of confinement was taken into account, no relationships between the variables of social density and psychosomatic illness could be established. Thus, no strong influence of variations in crowding could be concluded. Other psychological effects were not measured. A nine-item reference list is provided. Related studies are reviewed.