Abstract

Dysfunctional anger has been linked with prison unrest, riots, jail breaks, recidivism and other forms of disruptive behaviour among prison inmates in Nigeria. Despite robust evidence of linkage between dysfunctional anger, aggression, violence and other diverse negative mental and behavioural problems in the prisons, there is dearth of indigenous and specifically designed instruments for the assessment of dysfunctional anger in the prison. The Prison Dysfunctional Anger Scales (PDAS) is a 10-item self-report inventory. The development follows a mixed sequential method. Focus Group Discussions, In-depth Interview, Key Informant Interview and pilot survey were used to generate and refine the final pool of items (? = 0.89). Data were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), principal component analysis, Pearson correlation analysis and cronbach alpha analysis at p? 0.05 level of significance. PDAS yielded ? = 0.93, EFA (X² (120) = 3831.88) and three factors Cognitive-Physiological Reactance (? = 84), Injustice-Frustration Intolerance (? = 0.89), and Situational Predisposing Factors (? = 0.83) ranging from 0.56-0.85 at 67.72% of the total variance and KMO of 0.68. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated a good fit: GFI=0.97; AGFI=0.93; and RMSEA=0.04. Convergent validity was established with State Trait Anger Expression Inventory (r=.43, p<.05) and divergent validity with Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (r= -.15, p<.05). The newly developed scale demonstrated meritorious validity and faster eases of administration among the prison population.

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