Coronabedingte psychische und gesundheitliche Folgen bei Gefangenen im Justizvollzug: vom „Job-demands-resources“-Modell zum „Prison-demands-resources“-Modell?

The COVID-19 pandemic brought significant burdens and restrictions for the population. Also in the prison context pandemic-related measures, such as the limitation of social contacts and prison leave, had negative effects on inmates’ well-being. On the basis of these exceptional demands, the present study examined the transferability of the job demands-resources model (JD-R) by Bakker and Demerouti (2007), which is known from occupational and health psychology, to the prison context in order to explore its potential in shedding light on the relationships between demands and consequences. In a survey study, n = 956 inmates were asked about COVID-19-related demands due to restrictions, the therapeutic hold, their mental health, perceived sense of life, suicidal thoughts, life satisfaction and health perceptions.

Consistent with the assumptions of the JD‑R model, the results show that demands due to restrictions are related to inmates’ suicidal thoughts, life satisfaction, and health experiences via mental health. Furthermore, therapeutic hold serves as an important resource for inmates, which is associated with suicidal thoughts, life satisfaction, and health experiences via sense of life. Interaction effects between demands and resources postulated in the model could not be replicated in this study; however, therapeutic hold tends to mitigate the effects of demands due to restrictions on inmates’ mental health.

The results emphasize that prison-related demands negatively impact the attitudes and experiences of inmates through deterioration in mental health, while resources have a positive effect by conveying a sense of life. Overall, transferring the JD‑R model to the prison context and examining other prison-related demands and resources using a prison demands-resources model appears to be a promising approach for future research.