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Homesickness amongst a prison population
Author(s) -
Ireland Carol,
Archer John
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
legal and criminological psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.65
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 2044-8333
pISSN - 1355-3259
DOI - 10.1348/135532500168001
Subject(s) - prison , psychology , prison population , population , clinical psychology , scale (ratio) , psychometrics , demography , cartography , geography , criminology , sociology
Purpose. The aim of this study is to validate a modified version of the 33‐item Homesickness Questionnaire (HQ; Archer, Ireland, Amos, Broad, & Currid, 1998) for use within a prison population. Methods. The HQ was reworded to fit the experiences of prisoners rather than students. 179 male young offenders completed the 30‐item scale (the modified Homesickness Questionnaire, HQ‐P), and a single‐item homesickness measure (SIHM; Fisher & Hood, 1987). Results. The HQ‐P was internally consistent, and 25 items showed significant differences between homesick and non‐homesick groups formed on the basis of the SIHM. Factor analysis revealed a main factor consistent with one of two found by Archer et al. (1998), representing attachment to the home. Removal of other items left a total of 21 items in the final HQ‐P. There were high positive correlations between the HQ‐P total scores and the SIHM for current and initial levels of homesickness. Conclusions. The findings reveal a coherent construct of homesickness among these prisoners, and provide a simple way of assessing and screening inmates for homesickness.