Socio-psychological analysis of the correlation between the motivation of self-destruction and personality traits of delinquents

An analysis of the results of an empirical study presented in the article revealed the relationship between the motivation of self-destructive behavior and personality traits of male delinquents serving sentences in prisons of the Russian Federation and registered as preventive individuals who are prone to commit suicide and self-mutilation. Convicts of this category are characterized by a desire to attract the attention of others to their problems, which is due to the desire to achieve compassion, acceptance. Despite the fact that their self-destructive behavior often looks like demonstrative-blackmail, it can be regarded more as a cry for help. The tendency of these persons to perceive the events of their life as unique, and themselves as an extraordinary personality, what is a prerequisite for the search for exceptional ways out of emerging situations, in particular by committing suicide. The people around them appear as enemies that do not correspond to the subjective ideas about the norm. When assessing situations and events emotions prevail over intellectual control, which can result in impulsive actions, including suicidal ones. Delinquents are characterized by emotional rigidity as well as a reduced level of optimism, liveliness and activity. They are hard at experiencing setbacks, can suddenly become discouraged, overly impressionable, can not quickly navigate in a stressful situation, are often internally tense, in a conflict situation they strive to fully defend their position, are quick-tempered, irritable. Despite a high predisposition to self-destructive behavior, on average, individuals in this category show a high rate of antisuicidal factor, which manifests itself in a fear of physical suffering. The presented results are of undoubted practical importance for the development of ideas about the socio-psychological characteristics of individuals with self-destructive inclinations as well as the relationship of these features in the personality structure, which should be taken into account by prison psychologists when planning psycho-correctional work. The study of the relationship between the motivation of self-destruction and the sociopsychological qualities of the personality of delinquents is one of the important conditions for the prevention of suicidal behavior of convicts in prison. Psychological assistance to convicts prone to self-destructive behavior will help reduce suicidal risk, thereby reducing the risks of antisocial behavior in general.

Keywords: autodestruction; delinquent; antisocial behavior; suicidal risk; social maladaptation; motivation of self-destructive behavior; socio-psychological personality traits; applied socio-psychological research.