Peculiarities of studying the experience of guilt among convicts in a correctional institution

This article presents the features of studying the experience of guilt in convicts in a correctional institution. The recognition of guilt by convicts is a special criterion for the correction of convicts. The article presents an empirical study conducted on the subject under study. Theoretical and methodological approaches studying guilt as a psychological characteristic are reflected, as well as the complexity of ongoing research on this topic has been noted more than once. Thus, researchers in the field of penitentiary sciences pay attention to the peculiarities of the experience of guilt by convicts in places of deprivation of liberty. The relevance of the study is confirmed by the low level of study of the phenomenon of guilt experience by convicts in a correctional institution. For an empirical study, the goal was defined: to study the characteristics of the experience of guilt in convicts held in places of deprivation of liberty. The object of the study is the feeling of guilt itself. The subject of the study was the peculiarities of the experience of guilt by convicts in a correctional institution. The hypothesis of the study was determined in such a way that the guilt of repeat offenders is less pronounced than that of those who committed a crime for the first time. The study sample consisted of 60 male convicts aged 30 to 60 years, who were divided into 2 experimental groups, taking into account the recurrence of crimes. Diagnostic tools have identified the following methods: the method "Measuring feelings of guilt and shame" (Test of Self-Conscious Affect - TOSCA) (Tangney J.P.) (J. P. Tangney) TOSCA and the test "Measuring maladaptive guilt" (IGQ), developed by American psychologists (O'Connor et al.) in adaptation of E. V. Korotkova. The conducted research allowed us to identify a number of patterns and features. According to the results of the study, some practical recommendations were given to employees of the psychological services of the correctional institution on the organization of preventive, educational and psychocorrective effects on the personality of convicts from their stay in the quarantine department. It is especially important to carry out appropriate work to train convicts of a correctional institution in socially acceptable communication skills, the adoption of an appropriate socially approved lifestyle that will help them adapt to later life after release and cope with the experience of guilt at the present moment.