NCJ Number
79819
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 8 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1981) Pages: 375-389
Date Published
1981
Length
15 pages
Annotation
The present study investigated LOC in a sample of volunters (n=174) from randomly selected inmates at a state prison for women. Results on a multidimensional measure of LOC showed that: (a) education and income were significantly and positively related to the internal orientation and negatively related to the external orientation of LOC; (b) compared to minority women inmates, white women inmates were less likely to attribute events to chance; and (c) no significant relationship was found between LOC and length of imprisonment. Findings suggest that differences in LOC between men and women prison inmates are related to sex-specific adaptation to prison and differences in prison environs rather than to length of imprisonment.
Abstract
Most studies investigating internal-external locus of control (LOC) in prison samples have found inmates to be externally oriented. On the whole, these studies have excluded women prison inmates. (Publisher abstract)