The Rembrandts succinctly captured the
essence and importance of friendship to an individual’s wellbeing when they
wrote the catchy tune, “I’ll Be There for You.” It makes sense that when the
song claims, “So no one told you life was gonna
be this way… I’ll be there for you” is accompanied by feelings of warmth and
happiness. As humans, we are social creatures that were intrinsically
designed to be in relationships.
But what if you are in an
environment that is conceived to promote loneliness and to punish with isolation:
a place that thrives on separation. Where
the privileges of socialization are usurped and the right to friendships are
earned. Unfortunately, the place I am describing is prison.
Currently, federal and
provincial prisons in Canada house approximately 38,786 adults daily
with admissions of 391,692 adults annually (Malakieh, 2019). Out of these thousands of Canadians impacted by the justice system,
many prisoners have past and present struggles with their mental illness.
Just like for you or I, the mental health of prisoners
is reliant on many factors with one being social connectedness. Social
connectedness is the feeling of belonging that arises from forming close
relationships and group memberships. Often we find social connectedness through
work, school, religious memberships. Research has suggested increased social group
memberships is correlated with wellbeing (Kyprianides & Easterbrook, 2019).
So perhaps if you are feeling down maybe joining some fun social groups could
improve your mental health.
As simple as this advice sounds, it is difficult
for individuals such as myself who are not imprisoned. Yet for individuals who are
facing imprisonment, this is an extremely difficult because prisoners are
already likely to have increased mental health problems. To add on to their
existing difficulties, during incarceration prisoners are likely to experience
high rates of social isolation.
A recent study of prisoners residing in
multiple locations across the UK, looked at how social interaction and group membership
is linked to their well-being (Kyprianides & Easterbrook, 2019). The
researchers analyzed previously collected data from a questionnaire filled out
by the prisoner’s during their incarceration that measured their perception of
their quality of life while incarcerated. Specifically, the questionnaire probed
the individual’s sense of personal autonomy, well-being, and amount of positive
social interactions they experienced. In line with what the researcher’s predicted,
they found that positive interactions with peers is linked to increased well-being
and autonomy. Additionally, researchers found that increased group memberships,
and not just individual memberships, are linked to increased prisoner
-wellbeing. Their findings may predict the
importance of social connectedness to people while incarcerated.
However, as optimistic as their results may sound,
they are just a steppingstone for future research. This is because the claims made were just
association and were not designed to assess causality. Prison research is often
heavily restricted and difficult to conduct which makes it difficult to assess
the true experiences of prisoners.
Nevertheless, I believe The Rembrandts were
right when they said we all need someone “There for You” when “it hasn't been your day, your week, your month
or even your year”.
I'll Be There For You. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-9kPks0IfE
Kyprianides, A., & Easterbrook, M. J.
(2019). Social Factors Boost Well‐Being Behind Bars: The Importance of
Individual and Group Ties for Prisoner Well‐Being. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being. doi: 10.1111/aphw.12171
Malakieh, J. (2019, May 9).
This Juristat article provides a statistical overview of adults and youth
admitted to and released from custody and community supervision in Canada in
2017/2018. Analysis is presented at the national as well as the provincial and
territorial levels. Average counts and the incarceration rates are presented.
Admissions and the characteristics of adults and youth in the correctional
system (such as age, sex and Aboriginal identity) are also discussed. Retrieved
from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2019001/article/00010-eng.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment