The Perception of Time – Time Confined within the Walls of the Penitentiary

Abstract

Aim: The subjective perception of time is of fundamental importance to all people in terms of the choices they make in organising their lives. This is particularly true in specific life situations and circumstances, such as the lives of prisoners, who are confronted daily with the problem of their relationship to time. The aim of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the conceptual definition of time and to present the time perspective model as a theoretical and methodological framework for investigating the subjective perception of time in the prison population.

Methodology: the author conducts a literature review to examine the historiographical aspects of the subjective perception of time and the psychological model of time perspective.

Findings: The time perspective is learned, i.e. it can be reorganised and corrected, opening the way to new, more adaptive coping strategies and more differentiated decision-making processes.

Value: We consider our basic research work as an introduction to a larger-scale research, the propositions and findings of which will contribute to the expansion of the theoretical background and methodological tools available for the daily reintegration and psychological tasks of the prison service.