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Personal space of incarcerated offenders
Author(s) -
Wormith J. S.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4679(198405)40:3<815::aid-jclp2270400332>3.0.co;2-g
Subject(s) - psychology , personal space , recidivism , space (punctuation) , test (biology) , interpersonal communication , clinical psychology , personal injury , personality , social psychology , linguistics , philosophy , paleontology , political science , law , biology
Administered the proxemic test (Kinzel, 1970) and a psychometric test battery to 49 incarcerated offenders on two occasions. Offenders also were rated by staff on their interpersonal behavior, and a 3‐year follow‐up was undertaken to assess recidivism. Immediate test‐retest reliabilities were extremely high in all four directions (0.93 to 0.97), but lower over a 10‐week period (0.65 to 0.89). The Behind distance was largest on both occasions. There were no changes in the four distance measures over time. An algebraic for mula was devised to calculate Personal Space Area. Age was related inversely to offender's Personal Space ( r = −0.32, p < 0.03). Personality measures, observation ratings, and follow‐up outcome data were related in consistently to Personal Space Area, although there was some indication that offenders with a large personal space were less empathic, less socialized, less accepting of others, received poor evaluations, and were more likely to recidivate. The utility of personal space in the assessment of offenders is discussed.