Effect of Rational Emotive Therapy in Curbing Psychological Effects of Imprisonment Among Inmates in Port Harcourt Correctional Centre (Published)
The study explored the effect of rational emotive therapy in curbing psychological effects of imprisonment among inmates. The study was guided by two specific objectives, research questions and corresponding hypotheses. Quasi-experimental design was adopted in the study. The study population was made up of over 1200 inmates serving various terms of imprisonment in Port Harcourt Correctional home. A sample of Sixty (60) inmates (34 males and 26 females) with a mean age of 26 years were randomly sampled and placed into the experimental and control groups of 30 each. RET was used as the treatment for experimental group. The “Psychological Effect of Imprisonment Scale” (PEIS) was used as instrument for data collection. The instrument was treated to have sufficient content and face validity. The internal consistency of the instrument was established by using the Cronbach alpha which yielded an index of 0.76. Data were analyzed using the mean, standard deviation and t-test. Result indicated among others that RET was a very effective counselling technique in curbing the psychological effects of imprisonment. Therefore, it was recommended that rational emotive therapy should be adopted as an effective strategy for curbing the psychological effects of imprisonment among inmates. Conclusions were made based on the research findings.
Keywords: Efficacy, Inmates, curbing, psychological effects, rational emotive therapy