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The internalization of and defiance against rules within prison: The role of correctional officers’ autonomy-supportive and controlling communication style as perceived by prisoners

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Abstract

While incarcerated, prisoners are subject to a vast number of rules. Drawing upon self-determination theory, the present study examined whether prisoners’ perceptions of the degree to which prison officers communicate rules in an autonomy-supportive or controlling way related to prisoners’ internalization of and defiance against rules, and whether this, in turn, related to their (mal)adaptive functioning in prison. Participants were 156 Belgian prisoners (Mage = 38.60; SD = 11.68, 88.5% male) who filled out questionnaires concerning the study variables. Associations were tested using structural equation modeling. Results showed that, whereas a higher level of perceived autonomy-supportive communication style related via greater internalization of rules to prisoners’ higher quality of life, a perceived controlling style was positively related to aggression and irritation vis-à-vis prison officers. Additional analyses suggested that an alternative model, where prisoners’ maladaptive functioning is predictive of higher levels of perceived controlling communication, is equally valid.

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Notes

  1. Internment is is a safety measure for mentally ill offenders who are regarded not to be responsible for their crime due to a psychiatric disorder or intellectual disability. The internment measure is intended to prevent harm to society and to treat the interned person (see also Vandevelde, Soyez, Vander Beken, De Smet, Boers, & Broekaert, 2011 for an overview of internment in Belgium).

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the prison staff, both national and local directors, prison guards and social services, who assisted us in the recruitment of participants and the data collection. We are also thankful to the prisoners who participated in this study.

Funding

Preparation of this paper was supported by Grant 12X5818N of the Research Foundation – Flanders.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Psychology, Department of Developmental, Social, and Personality Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Jolene van der Kaap-Deeder, Nathalie Aelterman & Maarten Vansteenkiste

  2. Psychosocial Service Unit, Prison of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Elien Audenaert

  3. Family and Development Research Centre, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Stijn Van Petegem

  4. Department of Special Needs Education, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Stijn Vandevelde

  5. Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Sarah Van Mastrigt

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  1. Jolene van der Kaap-Deeder
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Correspondence to Jolene van der Kaap-Deeder.

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Jolene van der Kaap-Deeder is a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Research Foundation – Flanders.

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van der Kaap-Deeder, J., Audenaert, E., Van Petegem, S. et al. The internalization of and defiance against rules within prison: The role of correctional officers’ autonomy-supportive and controlling communication style as perceived by prisoners. Motiv Emot 43, 771–785 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-019-09766-w

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