Psychology, Personality, Assessments, and My Obsession with Prison Shows

If you’ve read my blog for any period of time, you probably know how much reality television I watch (far too much).  One of my newest obsessions is with Lockup on MSNBC.  This series examines the life of prisoners in the United States.  The producers visit various jails, prisons, and detention centers and give viewers a sneak peak into the personal lives of convicts and prison staff.

I know it seems odd for someone to love watching stories about convicts, but I see much more than just the horrible crimes committed when I watch the show.  I’m fascinated by the interplay of politics, prison culture, gangs and race relations, psychology, sociology, rehabilitation and recidivism rates, mental illness, socioeconomic status, intelligence and critical thinking, restriction of freedom, interpretation of rules, locus of control, family support, etc.  Every bit of it fascinates me.

There are incredibly smart prisoners who were nearly masterminds in the crime they committed.  There are individuals who are clear sociopaths.  Many prisoners complain about their rights being taken away in prison, but cannot connect the fact that they took someone’s life away with the fact that they are being punished.  The notion of accountability is nearly impossible to find within prison walls, and yet the sense of entitlement runs high.  There are prisoners who can tell the whole story about how they murdered someone without using a single sentence that states their own action (i.e. “So, he got stabbed.”)  What contributes to the personality and psychology of criminals?

I wonder what the results would be if prisoners were measured with assessments like the Golden Personality Type Profiler (or MBTI), Watson-Glaser II Critical Thinking Appraisal, Thomas Killmann Conflict Mode Instrument, FIRO-B, etc.

What does the personality profile of a prisoner look like?

I never considered a job in Correctional Psychology, but I would love to hear input on the personality of prisoners from someone who has experience in the area!