Sadistic Impulsiveness and Violent Behaviour in Prisoners of Lahore

Abstract

The present study was designed to explore the tendency of sadistic impulsiveness and violent behavior in prisoners of Lahore, Pakistan. The study was initiated with the hypotheses that there will be a positive relationship between sadistic-impulsiveness and violent behavior as well as the sadistic-impulsiveness can predict violent behavior in prisoners. Gender differences were also examined. The sample was comprised of 280 convicted and under trial prisoners, who were drawn from District and Central Jails of Lahore (182 men and 101 women). Measures for data collection including Short Sadistic Impulse Scale (O’Meara, 2011) and

Aggression Questionnaire (Buss & Warran, 2000) were used to analyze sadistic- impulsiveness and violent behavior in prisoners. Results indicated that sadistic- impulsiveness was positively related and predicted violent behavior in both men and women prisoners. Men prisoners were higher on aggression while women prisoners scored high on sadistic impulsiveness. Implications of the study and directions for the future research were also established.