The significance of relationships between self efficacy and the distribution of resources in the positive adaptation of young offenders

Abstract

This study analyses the psychological mechanisms that have a significant influence on the adaptation process in young of- fenders. The psychological determinants of this process include the reciprocal associations between the resources individuals possess (their importance, gains and losses) and their experience of self-efficacy in three temporal perspectives (past, present, future). The research was conducted on a group of three-hundred-and-sixty-two young people, each of whom had committed at least one offence. rotter’s Incomplete sentence Blank (rIsB) was used to measure adaptation, hobfoll’s Conservation of resources evaluation (importance, gains, losses) was applied to measure resources, while Niewiadomska’s Life self-appraisal Questionnaire served for the research into self-efficacy. Path analysis was used to show how adaptation was formed by the as- sociations occurring between the individuals’ experience of self-efficacy and the distribution of resources. The study found five mechanisms shaping the adaptive capacities in the group of young offenders, which reflect the reciprocal associations between their experience of self-efficacy and the level, gains and losses of perceived resources.