Abstract

Empirical evidences have implicated a number of psychological factors in self-harming among prison population globally and in Nigeria. This study, therefore, investigated imprisonment status, perceived social support, and personality factors as predictors of self-harm urges among inmates of a Nigerian prison. It employed ex-post facto design. Multi-stage sampling method was used to select 212 inmates-190 males and 22 females. Revalidated Depression sub-scale of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Inmates Perceived Social Support Scale, revalidated Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised Short Form-Hindi Edition, and Inmates Self-Harm Urges Scale were used to gather data. The t-test result (t (210) =2.70, p<0.05) showed that non-convicted inmates reported higher self-harm urges than the convicted inmates. There was no significant difference in self-harm urges reported by inmates with low and high perceived social support. Personality factors (extroversion-introversion, psychoticism, and neuroticism) jointly predicted self-harm urges among the inmates (R2=0.36, F(3,230)=28.63, p<0.05), accounting for 36% of the variance observed in the level of self-harm urges among the inmates studied. It was suggested that psychologists and other mental health experts be employed into the Nigerian Prison Service to help assess the needs, risk factors, and provide the needed interventions.

Keywords: Imprisonment status; Perceived social support; Personality; Self-harm urges