Chronotopic characteristics of the representation of the world among convicts in penitentiary facilities

Introduction. Prolonged stay in penitentiary facilities connected with the forced restriction of physical and social space, the influence of the values of the criminal community, causes a retaliatory change in the representation of the world, which performs a protective, adaptive function. The purpose of the study is to identify specific features of the person's representation of the world in conditions of staying in penitentiary facilities. Materials and Methods. Under analysis are space and time and value-semantic components of the representation of the world revealed in a series of studies performed with various groups of subjects in penitentiary facilities. The authors estimate individual boundaries of the psychological space and the structural organization of the personality's identity; the time perspective of an individual and the subjective attitude to one's past, present and future; individual hierarchy and the level of realization of the value orientations of an individual; meaningfulness of life and its individual temporal loci. Results and Discussion. The convicts' representation of the world is characterized by peculiarities of space and time and value-semantic components: fragility and permeability of the outer boundaries of subjective reality; inconsistency in the structure of personality identity; rigid fixation on some temporal locus, “falling out” of the present and incoherence of the time perspective; focus on "deficiency" values; low levels of meaningfulness of life. Conclusions. Representation of the world among convicts who are in penitentiary facilities is distinguished by a low level of development of all its chronotopic characteristics. These features are determined by a combination of frustrating factors in the external social environment of the correctional institution. The variability of the chronotopic characteristics of convicts' representation of the world is determined by the nature and severity of the crime committed, the length of staying in penitentiary facilities and the "intra-prison" social status.