Une analyse des facteurs reliés au sentiment d’insécurité en milieu carcéral
For a long time, the feeling of safety has been a subject matter of interest to social scientists. Applied in prisons, this phenomenon is not much studied. Different studies have come to inconsistent results with respect to factors related to insecurity. The different ways of conceptualizing and measuring this phenomenon often appear as a cause of the inconsistency of the results. The present study aims to deepen general knowledge about the insecurity sentiment and present the following specific objectives: (1) provide a quantitative picture of the feeling of safety, taking into account its emotional, cognitive and behavioral dimensions; (2) estimate the victimization rate in Canadian penitentiaries in Quebec; (3) analyse the different factors that are related to the different dimensions of feeling of safety; (4) analyse the interrelation between the different dimensions of the feeling of safety.   To achieve these objectives, data from 293 inmates held in ten Quebec prisons were analyzed. Descriptive analyses were used to document the insecurity of prisoners taking into account various dimensions. Bivariate and multivariate analyses have permitted to identify the individual and contextual factors that are significantly associated with the different dimensions of insecurity. Hierarchical regression models were used to verify the interrelation between the different dimensions of feeling of safety, taking into account the influence of other factors. The results showed a level of insecurity that is low and variable among the prison population, and also that the different dimensions of insecurity were affected by various factors and were partially interconnected.
Feeling of safety Prison Inmates Factors Multidimensional concept Insecurity Perceptions of risk Constrained behaviors