The stabilization of self-esteem among incarcerated adolescents: Accommodative and immunizing processes

The negative effect of a custodial sentence on juvenile self-esteem is disc ussed. It is argued that individual coping resources offer an explanation f or the inconclusive findings of earlier studies in this field. Findings of a cross-sectional study of 299 prisoners (14 to 24 years) are presented. Th e results show that the stability of self-esteem during incarceration depen ds on both accommodative and immunizing coping reactions. Prisoners who do not possess at least one of these coping resources show particularly low se lf-esteem at the start of their term of imprisonment. This creates the misl eading impression that for the average individual, self-esteem increases du ring a period of custody. The study also shows that in the latter period of a prison term, accommodative coping resources also tend to support an incr ease in immunizing reactions. Implications for longitudinal studies and for practical interventions in the juvenile custody system are discussed.