Specifics of Psychological Defences in Prison Personnel Depending on their Empathy Level

In the today's world people are interacting less and less time with other people and consequently they tend not to get involved with others' problems or care much about the emotions of others. Hence, this raises an issue of empathy in the modern society. Presently, the subject of more extensive research is the professional aspect of empathy in the person-to-person domain. In our study empathy is viewed as a process that can be affected by external factors. This article demonstrates the results of dynamic variations of empathy which occur in interactions between the personnel and the convicts and persons held in custody. In addition to that we researched the relationship between empathy and psychological defences - to demonstrate how the affective component of one's behavior varies depending on the adverse effects of external factors. Our findings highlight certain aspects of the activity of the penal system personnel, which will be helpful in providing psychological counselling for them. The data obtained make it possible to create new or update existing correctional and prevention programs in order to minimize the negative impact of external factors on the behavior and psychological state of the prison personnel.

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