The Psychological Motives of Self-Harm Behavior among Inmates at the Correctional and Rehabilitation Centers in Jordan

The aim of this study was to investigate thepsychological motives of self-harm behavior among inmates inthe correctional and rehabilitation centers of Jordan. Thesample consisted of (136)male and female inmates who met allcriteria established for this study. For answering the researchquestions, the researcher developed the Motives of Self-HarmBehavior Inventory. To test the reliability of this instrument,the researcher administered this instrument to 40, male andfemale inmates outside the sample of the study.The internal consistency was (0.95)as measured by Cranach salpha, which is an indicator of reliability. The feedback ofspecialized professors regarding the validity of the instrumentprovided the face validity. The results indicated that self-harmbehavior associated with stressful life events such as mental illness, dealing with prison environment, and lack of family support or bonding. No significant differences were found between inmates regarding their motives for intentional selfharm due to gender, age, and length of sentence, marital status, and convicted or waiting trials. The prevalence of selfharmbehavior among male inmates was 2% and 8.5 % for females. Mental illness was the most influential and leadingfactor for intentional self-harm behavior especially among female inmates