This article contrasts a retributive penal system (Irish) with a rehabilitative system (Swedish) vis-à-vis the affective responses of women prisoners to incarceration. Previous studies typically have focused on narrow aspects of affect (e.g., interpersonal relationships) in prison. In contrast, the present study takes a more comprehensive approach in order to measure and compare affect over various aspects of prison life. In the more material aspects of life in prison, significant differences were found between the affective responses of Swedish and Irish women prisoners. Surprisingly, this difference did not extend to the less material aspects of prison life (e.g., interpersonal relationships and emotions). The most surprising finding was that the women from the rehabilitative Swedish system were more fearful of not having a “normal” life after release than were those from the retributive Irish system.
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