Abstract

The study investigated the perceived influence of coping strategies on the psychological wellbeing of prison inmates in Benue State, Nigeria. The participants comprised 320 inmates which included 278 (86.9%) males and 42 (13.1%) females. Their ages ranged between 15 and 60 years. Data was collected from three prisons (Gboko, Makurdi and Otukpo). The cross sectional survey design was used. Benue State prisons had a population of 1611 as at 2018 when the data was collected. Instruments used include the Coping strategy Indicator (CSI) by Amirkan and the Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being (44 item) by Carol Ryff. One hypothesis was formulated and tested at a significant level of 0.05. Purposive sampling technique was used, to analyse the data, the multiple linear Regression analyses was used to test the hypothesis. The result of the hypothesis showed that on coping strategies and psychological wellbeing (autonomy of prison inmates), hypothesis was not confirmed. On coping strategies and Psychological wellbeing (environmental mastery of prison inmates), hypothesis was confirmed and accepted. On coping strategies and Psychological wellbeing (personal growth of prison inmates), the hypothesis was confirmed, on coping strategies and (psychological wellbeing)positive relations with others, the hypothesis was accepted . On coping strategies and psychological wellbeing (purpose in life), the hypothesis was confirmed and on coping strategies and psychological wellbeing (self-acceptance), the hypothesis was not confirmed. Among the recommendations is the fact that Prison staff who directly work with inmates should create enabling environment for the inmates and support their coping mechanism by providing social support, moral and religious instruction. This will have a positive effect on their psychological wellbeing.