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Publication

Loss of Meaning, Meaning-making Processes, and Posttraumatic Growth among Prisoners

Book - Dissertation

Unexpected life events can threaten our meaning system and can eventually lead to a loss of meaning. This loss of meaning is accompanied by distress (Park, 2010). In order to cope with this distress, individuals engage in subsequent meaning-making processes. From an existential point of view, the best case scenario is that people gain new meaning in life (van Deurzen & Adams, 2011). A profound shift in how people experience meaning and perceive the world is called posttraumatic growth (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). Previously, studies on meaning and posttraumatic growth have been conducted almost exclusively in non-offender samples. However, Janoff-Bulman (2013) argues that violating one’s own moral standards can also threaten one’s meaning system. Being incarcerated as a consequence of a crime one has committed could lead to a loss of meaning and distress. In this doctoral dissertation, we explore the loss of meaning, meaning-making processes and posttraumatic growth among prisoners.Chapter 1 introduces important theories and concepts such as the meaning-making model (Park, 2010), and posttraumatic growth (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). In Chapter 2, we explore whether the experience of incarceration creates a loss of meaning among prisoners. The results of a cross-sectional study (n = 365) showed that a loss of meaning predicted distress in prison. Chapter 3 focuses on the predictive value of coping strategies as meaning-making processes on posttraumatic growth among prisoners. Emotional support, religious coping and search for meaning were found to be positive predictors, whereas behavioral disengagement was found to be a negative predictor of posttraumatic growth. In Chapter 4 we asked the question whether posttraumatic growth among offenders might be associated with less distress. Our mixed-method pilot study affirmed this hypothesis. Chapter 5 offers a different approach to meaning and the search for meaning in life. A person-oriented methodological approach (cluster analysis) made it possible to distinguish four distinct profiles of meaning. Prisoners with profiles that were marked by higher levels of meaning experienced less distress, more positive world assumptions, higher levels of self-worth, and more care for others compared to prisoners with low meaning profiles. Greater numbers of older prisoners and prisoners who were sexually abused in childhood were represented in the profile that was marked by extremely low levels of meaning and low levels of search for meaning. In Chapter 6 we applied a phenomenological method to explore the prison experiences, coping strategies and signs of posttraumatic growth of ten prisoners. Participants mostly tried to cope through emotional support from others. The main source of their meaning in life was to be found in their deepened relationships with their family. In Chapter 7, we present a case study on how to support meaning-making processes and posttraumatic growth in psychotherapy during incarceration. Being offered a safe, non-judgmental space, the client could explore the basic existential needs which were associated with the crime. Psychotherapy supported the development of a more nuanced set of meanings and a richer pallet of coping skills. Finally, the main findings are discussed and suggestions for future research are formulated in Chapter 8. A deeper understanding of the existential challenges that prisoners have to face can help them to lead a more meaningful and pro-social life in the future.
Publication year:2015
Accessibility:Open