Clinical Psychology in Penitentiary Practice and Training of Psychologists

The article presents research data on the severity of mental abnormalities and their variants found among the convicts serving sentences in penitentiary institutions of Russia. The data on the prevalence of mental disorders among convicts are presented. Criminal behavior can be a consequence of the presence of certain anomalies in a person, and vice versa, the occurrence of anomalies can be a consequence of leading a criminal lifestyle, being in a criminal environment or long-term imprisonment. These factors determine the development of pathological changes in the psyche of convicts, but do not exclude their sanity. According to the latest research results, from 70% to 80% of convicts serving sentences in correctional institutions of the federal penitentiary service of Russia have some kind of mental abnormalities. The features of psychological correction consist in taking into account the symptoms and consequences of mental disorders of convicts in the development of individual programs of adaptation and resocialization of this category of convicts. The purpose of the study was to substantiate the need for additional education in the field of clinical psychology by prison psychologists.