The Relationship between Religiosity and the Mental Health of the Prisoners on the verge of Being Released in Kerman and Yazd Prisons

Despite the studies which demonstrate that religious fields influence the prisoners' compatibility with prison, the role of prisons' religious concentration on the mental health of prisoners is still ambiguous and unknown. Accordingly, the present study investigates the relationship between the mental health of prisoners on the verge of being released in Kerman and Yazd.

The present study is descriptive-correlational and the statistical population includes 743 prisoners who are about to be released in prisons of Kerman and Yazd provinces. Data were collected using Goldberg’s General Health Questionnaire and Glock and Stark Religiosity Questionnaire in accordance with all ethical consideration and analyzed by Pearson correlation test and stepwise multivariate regression. In this study, all ethical considerations were observed and no conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

The results showed that although the prisoners had a low level of mental health, the level of their religiosity was in a suitable condition. The correlation between the parameters of religiosity and mental health of the prisoners showed that the increase in religiosity in the belief and intellectual dimensions reduced their social dysfunctions. The increase of religiosity in the ritualistic dimension also reduced their anxiety. The results of linear regression showed that the ritualistic, belief and intellectual dimensions of religiosity have a more predictive effect on the mental health of the prisoners.

Overall, the results showed that there is a positive relationship between the belief dimension of religiosity and the mental health of prisoners on the verge of being released, which highlights the importance of addressing this dimension in the prison's cultural programs.