Social Support and Its Relationship to Social Adaptation Among Jerusalemite Prisoners Released from Israeli Prisons in the Years 2018-2020

Abstract

This study aimed to find out the relationship between social support and social adaptation among Jerusalemite prisoners released from Israeli prisons in the years 2018/2020. It also aimed to find out the significance of the differences between the average responses of the study individuals according the levels of social support and social adaptation with regard to the variables of gender, age, marital status and years of imprisonment. The correlational descriptive method was employed in this study. The study population consisted of (220) male and female Jerusalemite prisoners released from Israeli prisons in the year 2018/2020, from whom a simple random sample amounting to (110), was chosen. In this study, the researcher used both of the Social Support and Social Adaptation Scales as research tools. The results showed that the level of the social support scale was very high whereas that of the social adaptation scale was high. The results also showed the existence of a statistically significant correlation at the level of significance (α≤0.01) between social support and social adaptation among Jerusalem prisoners released from Israeli prisons in the years 2018-2020. In addition, they showed that there are no statistically significant differences in the social support scale with regard to the variables of gender, age, marital status, and the duration of imprisonment. Furthermore, the results showed that there are no statistically significant differences in the scale of social adaptation with regard to the variables of sex, age, marital status, and the duration of imprisonment. In light of the results of this study, the researcher recommends the need to work on enhancing social support and focusing on it because of its impact on improving the feeling of released prisoners, in addition to preparing counseling programs to ensure avoiding the burdens that may arise from the problems facing the released prisoners. The researcher also recommends increasing interest in the freed Palestinian prisoner and providing everything he needs in order to help him to adapt socially to the surrounding environment.