Mental Functioning and Religiosity of Prisoners

Despite the important role religiosity plays in the resocialization of inmates, this research field lacks systematic reviews. The purpose of the study was to supply an account of mental functioning of prisoners viewed in the framework of their religiosity. The research included 124 individuals sentenced to twenty-five years of imprisonment. The research findings suggest that those offenders who claim to be believers significantly more often feature higher mental resilience (Mental Resilience Scale) and report more health-related issues, mainly somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia (GHQ-28). However, the analysis did not reveal any statistically significant relationship between religiosity and the level of anxiety (STAI) and the feel that penitentiary isolation is a stressful situation (the proprietary tool - Prison Isolation as a Stressful Situation). The study points to the role of faith for the mental functioning of offenders sentenced to long prison sentences and, as such, should be considered crucial to resocialization.