This study compared the experience of loneliness of criminals to that of the general population. The heterogeneous criminal population was divided into five more homogeneous subgroups whose loneliness experience was compared. These were sex offenders, violent offenders, property offenders, drug related offenders, and a category that contained all other miscellaneous offences. Three hundred fifty-six incarcerated male offenders and 501 males from the general population volunteered to answer an 82-item yes/no questionnaire. The questionnaire was composed of five subscales: Emotional Distress, Social Inadequacy and Alienation, Growth and Discovery, Interpersonal Isolation, and Self-Alienation. Results indicated significant differences between the loneliness experience of criminals and the general population, as well as amongst the criminal subgroups.
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