Personality Traits among Inmates of Aba Prison in ...

Nigerian Journal of Psychiatry Vol. 12 No. 2 July - December 2013

Personality Traits among Inmates of Aba Prison in Nigeria: Influence of the Five Factor Model on Inmate Status and type of Offences S. K. MOSAKU, A. AKINSULORE, I. J. ONWUCHEKWA, O. I. IBIGBAMI, F. O. FATOYE

ABSTRACT Background: Personality traits are the basic elements in the study of personality and it influences decision making by affecting our choices about whether to engage in different behaviours. Knowledge of the different personality traits among prison inmate is useful as it will assists in the development of interventions and strategies that target people with specific trait profiles so as to maximize their effectiveness in changing behaviour. Aim: To assess the personality traits of inmates in Aba prison Methods: Four hundred and six inmates were studied. Each inmate completed a semi-structured sociodemographic questionnaire and personality traits were assessed with the 44-item Big Five Inventory. Results: The majority (72.7%) of the inmates were within the age range of 21-40years. The personality trait with the highest mean score was openness while neuroticism had the lowest mean score. A large proportion of the inmates were awaiting trial (94.6%) while only few were convicted inmates (5.4%). The most common type of offence among the inmate was armed robbery (34.0%), followed by stealing, murder and assault (29.6%, 17.0% and 15.0 respectively) while rape and kidnapping were the least common offence (0.5% and 0.2% respectively). The convicted inmates reported significant higher mean scores on extraversion and agreeableness than the awaiting trial inmates. There were significant

differences in all Big Five personality domain scores in the different inmate's charges using ANOVA except in neuroticism. Conclusion: The findings of high extraversion and agreeableness traits among Nigerian convicted inmates and significant differences in personality trait of the different inmate charges open up new opportunities for further research. INTRODUCTION Several theories have been used to explain the relationship between risk factors and criminal behaviour. These theories place emphasis on various factors such as biological, psychological, sociological and economic factors. While each theory has contributed immensely to the body of knowledge in criminology, it is important to note that a single theory cannot completely explain the cause of crime. The psychological theories looked at various factors that are conducive to criminal behaviour with emphasis placed on intelligence and temperament. Of particular importance is the theory exploring the relationships between crime and individual personality. Personality is the aggregate of individual characteristics and manner of behaving which uniquely influences their cognition, motivation and behaviour in various circumstances (Ryckman, 2004). Larsen and Buss (2002) also defined personality as “the set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that are organized and relatively enduring and that influence his or her interactions with, and adaptations to, the environment.”

The basic elements in the study of personality are traits and examples in the common language are 'sociable', 'aggressive' and 'energetic'. Traits therefore, describe consistencies of an individual's distinctive set of attributes such as thinking, feeling, attitude and behaviour that is demonstrated over time. Individuals are active agents in choosing and shaping their environments and the environment in return affects their personality (Caspi et al, 2005; Caspi & Moffitt, 1993). An individual's personality trait influences decision making which involves choices about whether to engage in different behaviours. The outcome of which depends on the type of decision which may either have positive or negative impacts on the individual and the society. With respect to personality characteristics, studies (Hare 2006; 1996; Blonigen et al, 2005) focused on antisocial personality and psychopathy which are highly prevalent among the prison population. Psychopathy regarded as a form of maladaptive personality disorder with traits such as lack of remorse, manipulativeness, egocentricity, superficial charm, and shallow affect (Hare, 1991). Some researchers have argued that psychopathy can be understood as a configuration of personality traits from a model of general personality functioning (Lynam, 2002; Miller et al, 2001). The personality trait theory began with the “lexical hypothesis”. This hypothesis is based on the fact that most personality traits and characteristics are already encoded into our everyday language. Therefore, the words that

9

S. K. MOSAKU ET AL.

we use to describe others and ourselves are essentially the list of possible personality traits and attributes. The personality trait theory has been explored using the Five Factor Model (FFM) as a framework (Costa & McCrae, 1985). The FFM is a robust dimensional model that has succeeded in representing alternative models of personality and diverse collection of traits within an integrative, hierarchical structure (Samuel &Widiger, 2010). It is now considered to be one of the best ways to explain human personality (McCrae, 2002). The FFM as conceptualized by Costa and McCrae (1985) are Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion (or Extroversion), Agreeableness, and Neuroticism, which form the acronym OCEAN. These five factors are believed to represent biologically derived basic tendencies, which are instrumental in shaping attitudes, goals, relationships and the self-concept, and influence our interactions with the social and physical environment (McCrae & Costa, 1996). Openness refers to an individual who has broad interests and is imaginative and intellectually curious. Conscientiousness describes someone who is viewed as hardworking, ambitious, diligent, and well organized. Extraversion refers to a person who is outgoing, friendly, affectionate, and talkative. Agreeableness is meant to describe someone who is trusting, sympathetic, and cooperative. Finally, neuroticism characterizes someone who worries, is insecure, and more likely to experience psychological distress or depression. Therefore, knowledge of the different personality traits that moderate the cognitive, situational and environmental influences on behaviour is useful as it assists in the development of interventions and strategies that target people with specific trait profiles so as to

10

maximize their effectiveness in changing behaviour. Studies in the Western countries have examined the various personality factors in relation to crime but with some mixed results. Openness has generally shown to be positively correlated to crime, but not often significant (Miller et al, 2001); however, Clower and Bothell (2001) found openness is negatively correlated with arrests. Extraversion was associated with likelihood of committing status offences (an action that is prohibited only to a certain class of people, and most often applied to offenses only committed by minors) such as truancy and running away from home (Laak et al, 2003). Conscientiousness and agreeableness have both been repeatedly shown to be negatively related to criminal behaviour (Voller & Long, 2010; Hornsveld & de Kruyk, 2005; Wiebe, 2004). Neuroticism has been shown to be positively correlated to causing property damage (Laak et al, 2003), sexual violence (Hornsveld & de Kruyk, 2005) and use of aggressive behaviour (Hines & Saudino, 2008). Earlier studies (Idemudia, 1997; Tenibiaje, 2011; 2008) on personality trait assessment among Nigerian prison inmates used Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1975). However, only one recent study assessed personality trait with the Big Five Personality Inventory amongst prison inmates in Nigeria (Balogun, 2014). From the foregoing, it is evident that there is dearth of information on personality trait assessment using the Big Five Personality Inventory among prison inmates in Nigeria. Therefore, specific knowledge about personality traits among prison inmates will contribute to the understanding of criminal behaviour in the general Nigerian population. Information derived from this study will facilitate development of programs that will help in reducing

criminal behaviour in the Nigerian population especially among the younger population. The aim of this study was to assess the personality traits among inmates in Aba prison. METHODS Subjects The study was conducted in the Aba prison which is a medium security prison located in the business urban center of Aba in Abia State, Nigeria. The prison was built in 1911 with a capacity for 500 inmates but presently holds 511 inmates. The prison has a total of fourteen cells: four cells for convicted males, eight for awaiting trial males and two for females in a separate section within the prison ground. All the inmates were approached but only 413 inmates gave consent but data from only 406 were analysed (seven inmates were not included in the analysis due to incomplete data). Inclusion criteria: (1) The inmate must have been remanded by court of law with a legally valid remand warrant and must not be a lodger (a person originally remanded elsewhere but for some reason, was sent to another prison with the intension to return to his original prison afterward). (2) The inmate must be 18years and above. Exclusion Criteria: The diagnosis of any major mental disorder. Study design was descriptive cross-sectional study. Procedure The study was approved by office of the Controller General of the Nigerian prison service and the Ethics and Research Committee of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife. Participation was voluntary after the aim of the study has been clearly explained to the prisoners as well as the prison officers. The questionnaire had a highlighted sentence at the top requesting that the prisoners should not to identify

PERSONALITY TRAITS AMONG INMATES OF ABA PRISON IN NIGERIA

themselves in any way so as to ensure confidentiality and anonymity. The instruments were self administered in English language but for inmates who could not read and understand English; it was interpreted into Pidgin English and read to them with the aid of two research assistants who were trained on the administration of the survey questionnaire. The prison warders assist by calling the inmates into a room where the questionnaire was administered. Assessments Details of the inmates such as age, sex, highest educational level attained before imprisonment, occupation before imprisonment, status of imprisonment and the type of offence (charge) were collected with a questionnaire. Personality traits were assessed with the 44item Big Five inventory (BFI; John et al, 2008; 1991). The BFI was designed to efficiently measure the core aspects of each Big Five domain. The 44 items are short, easy-to-understand phrases that participants rate on a 5-point agreement scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) and these items were scored into five domain scales (Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism and Openness). The scale has been validated for use with Nigerian sample by Umeh (2004). The psychometric properties reported by John et al (1991) are: internal consistency Cronbach's alpha of 0.80 and a 3 month testretest of 0.85. The convergent validity of 0.75 and 0.85 was obtained when correlated with Big Five Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992) and Big Five Inventory (Golbery, 1992) respectively. In Nigeria, Onyishi, et al., (2012) reported a Cronbach's alpha of 0.83 while in Balogun (2014) study, a Cronbach's alpha of 0.78 was obtained.

Statistical analysis The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software (version 17) was used for analysis. Independent t-test was performed to test the difference between inmate sex and status (convicted and awaiting trial) on the scores of the five domain scales of BFI. The types of offences were compared on BFI domains using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Tukey's honestly significant difference (HSD) post hoc comparison procedure was performed when a significant main effect was present. RESULTS Only 406 inmates completed data and analysis was based on this number. About threequarters (72.7%) of the inmates were within the age range of 21 to 40 years with a mean age of 35.3 years (SD = 11.7; Age range = 19 – 78 years). The majority were males (98.8) and half (52.7%) had secondary education. The largest proportion of the inmates (94.6%) was awaiting trial. The most common type of offence was armed robbery (34.0%), followed by stealing, murder and assault (29.6%, 17.0% and 15.0 respectively) (Table 2). The personality characteristics of inmates were described by the BFI. The personality trait with the highest mean score was openness with inmate score ranging from 1.50 – 5.00 (3.46 ± 0.72). The trait of Neuroticism had the least mean score (3.07 ± 0.68), with inmate scores ranging between 1.5 and 5.00. There were no significant difference between male and female inmate on their BFI domain score (Table 3). An independent ttest was done to show the association between the mean BFI domain score between the convicted and awaiting trail inmates. The convicted inmates reported higher mean BFI domain scores than the awaiting trial

inmates in all the domains except in the neuroticism domain. Specifically, the convicted inmates reported a significant higher mean extraversion (t = 2.391, df = 404, p = 0.017) and agreeableness (t = 3.180, df = 404, p = 0.017) scores than the awaiting trial inmate (Table 4). Table 5 shows the association between inmate's type of offence and the Big Five personality domain scores using ANOVA. Extraversion was highest among the inmate with stealing (3.44, SD = 0.68); Agreeableness was highest among inmates with murder charges (3.45, SD = 0.56); Conscientiousness was highest among inmates with manslaughter charges (3.45, SD = 0.56) and Openness was highest among inmates with stealing charges (3.56, SD = 0.68) with ANOVA showing that there were significant differences (p = 0.002)　in the groups. Neuroticism was highest among inmates with manslaughter charges (3.36, SD = 0.43) with ANOVA showing that there were no significant differences (p = 0.207) in the groups. TABLE 1. DEMOGRAPHIC, GENERAL HEALTH AND PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF INMATES

VariablesFrequency Age group 50 years SexMale Female Educational level* No formal education Primary Secondary Tertiary Occupation* Government /Private employment Trading Artisan Farming Driving Student Others Unemployed

(%), (n= 406) 3 (0.7) 177 (43.6) 118 (29.1) 58 (14.3) 50 (12.3) 401 (98.8) 5 (1.2) 9 (2.2) 153 (37.7) 214 (52.7) 30 (7.4)

9 (2.2) 145 (35.7) 97 (23.9) 40 (9.9) 37 (9.1) 5 (1.2) 39 (9.6) 34 (8.4)

*Before imprisonment BFI: Big Five Inventory

11

S. K. MOSAKU ET AL.

TABLE 2. THE INMATES' STATUS OF IMPRISONMENT AND CHARGES Variables

Frequency (n = 406)

TABLE 3. PERSONALITY DOMAINS OF RESPONDENTS Variable

Percentages

Status Convicted inmate Awaiting trial

22 384

5.4% 94.6%

Type of offences Armed robbery Stealing Murder Assault Manslaughter Rape Kidnapping Miscellaneous offence

138 120 69 61 10 2 1 5

34.0% 29.6% 17.0% 15.0% 2.5% 0.5% 0.2% 1.2%

BFI domains Extraversion Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism Openness

Mean BFI Score (SD) Total Male (n=406) (n = 401)

Female (n =5)

3.24 (0.67) 3.30 (0.60) 3.17 (0.60) 3.07 (0.68) 3.46 (0.72)

3.43 (0.47) 3.40 (0.69) 3.18 (0.13) 3.20 (0.11) 4.08 (0.61)

3.24 (0.67) 3.30 (0.60) 3.17 (0.60) 3.07 (0.68) 3.45 (0.72)

Note: Standard deviations are in parentheses. TABLE 4. ASSOCIATION BETWEEN INMATES' STATUS AND BIG FIVE PERSONALITY DOMAINS BFI Domains

Mean BFI Score (SD) Convicted inmates Awaiting trial (n = 22) (n =384)

DISCUSSION The purpose of this study was to assess the personality trait among inmates in a Nigerian prison using the Big Five Personality Inventory. The findings showed the personality traits of the inmates with the highest mean score is Openness while Neuroticism had the lowest mean score. With respect to inmates' status, the convicted inmates reported significant higher mean scores in Extraversion and Agreeableness traits than the awaiting trial inmates. Age is a significant predictor of childhood aggression and violence among young adults (Patterson et al, 1992) and can influence criminality (McGue et al, 1993). In this study, majority of the inmates falls within young to middle age group, with most falling within the age range of 20 and 40 years. A similar observation was reported among inmates in other Nigerian Prison (Fatoye et al, 2010; 2006; Odejide, 1979) and this implies that age group of less than 40years may be associated with criminality. Male have been reported to be involved in criminal behaviour than female inmates, even if age is considered and various researchers in Nigeria have reported the predominance of male population among the prison inmates (Tenibiaje, 2011; Fatoye et al, 2010; 2006). This study reported similar observation of more male

12

p value 0.531 0.709 0.966 0.670 0.053

Extraversion 3.57 (±0.42) 3.22 (±0.68) Agreeableness 3.69 (±0.38) 3.28 (±0.60) Conscientiousness 3.28 (±0.57) 3.16 (±0.60) Neuroticism 3.00 (±0.78) 3.08 (±0.67) Openness 3.55 (±0.58) 3.46 (±0.73) Note: Standard deviations are in parentheses.

Test of statistical difference between groups t-value df p value 2.391 404 0.017 3.180 404 0.002 0.934 404 0.351 -0.511 404 0.609 0.595 404 0.552

TABLE 5. ASSOCIATION BETWEEN INMATE, TYPE OF OFFENCES AND BIG FIVE PERSONALITY DOMAINS Armed Stealing Murder MansAssault Rape/ robbery laughter Kidnapping/ Others BFI Domains

Extraversion Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism Openness

Mean (SD)

Mean (SD)

Mean (SD)

Mean (SD)

Mean (SD)

Mean (SD)

P value

3.21 (0.66) 3.23 (0.56) 3.13 (0.62) 2.97 (0.68) a 3.39 (0.75)

3.44ab (0.68)

3.22 (0.63) b 3.45 (0.56) c 3.29 (0.59) 3.18 (0.66) ac 3.73 (0.70)

2.65b (0.62) 3.22 (0.77) d 3.58 (0.38) 3.36 (0.43) 3.40 (0.34)

3.07a (0.60) ab 3.08 (0.60) abcd 2.80 (0.51) 3.10 (0.54) bc 3.17 (0.71)

2.89 (0.66) 3.42 (0.74) 3.04 (0.79) 3.11 (0.71) 3.28 (0.53)