Predictors of Presence of Meaning in Life among Convicts

Description

Page: 309-314

Priyanka Podder and Sanjukta Das (Department of Psychology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal)

Meaning in life is a crucial positive psychological construct that helps to bring about a reformative experience in people. The experience of suffering often leads to poor life satisfaction and inner void because of which the convicts face difficulty in realizing the meaningfulness of their existence. In view of this, the current study aimed to determine whether there is any contribution of hope, forgiveness, posttraumatic growth and depression in the presence of meaning in life of the convicts. The sample comprised of 165 convicts who stayed at a Correctional Home. The tools that were used in the study were Information Schedule to obtain socio-demographic details, The Trait Hope Scale (Snyder, 2002); Meaning in Life Questionnaire (Steger et al., 2006); Heartland Forgiveness Scale (Thompson et al., 2005); the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996); and Beck Depression Inventory – II (Beck et al., 1996). The administration of the tools was done following the standardized protocol with the convicts. The results showed that hope pathways, depression, relating to others which a subdomain of posttraumatic growth and forgiveness of situation have significant contribution in the presence of meaning in life of the convicts. All the variables positively predicted presence of meaning in life, except depression. The findings can help in formulating rehabilitation programmes for the convicts.