The Relationship between Interpersonal Distance and Violence in Imprisoned Offenders

Abstract

A 12-month follow-up of 73 prison inmates who had completed a video measure of preferred Interpersonal Distance (IPD) showed that those who had been involved in fights during the follow-up period had significantly higher IPD scores. Further classification into subgroups identified a very high IPD group who had a previous record of violence and who were the aggressors in fights in prison, and a very low IPD group who had no record of violence and were not involved in fights except as victims. A discriminant function analysis indicated that IPD score was the variable which best predicted fighting in prison. This analysis derived a function from which it was possible to predict fighting behavior with a 71% rate of success.