Generolo Jono Žemaičio Lietuvos karo akademija

The aim of the article was to determine the relationship between the occurrence of social pathologies (alcoholism, drug addiction, violence and aggression, poor financial standing, poverty, unemployment and crime) and the sense of security in local communities. The results of the research were put in the context of sustainable development. The article uses the method of diagnostic survey, with surveying as the technique and questionnaire as the tool for collecting empirical data. The survey covered 600 respondents in the following towns: Siedlce, Włocławek, Zamość, Piła, Ostrów Wielkopolski, Zgierz. The data obtained allowed to solve the research problem posed in the article and in an innovative way to demonstrate the relationship between the occurrence of basic social pathologies and their impact on the safety of the local community. The obtained results show that the respondents are aware of the occurrence of individual social pathologies in their local environment, as well as perceive their significant impact on functioning in the local community covered by the survey and have knowledge of the impact of negative phenomena on sustainable development. The article presents the author’s approach to the issue of finding out about social pathologies and indicating their influence on the sense of security in the local community, as well as their importance for sustainable development.

The article was inspired by the desire to broaden the knowledge on the existence of adult men just after the loss of freedom – that is, during the transitional period of imprisonment. The research was inspired by the specific nature of the temporary cell and the conviction that for many researchers, this area is almost inaccessible and the research itself difficult to conduct. The aim of the research is an attempt at identifying factors that may be related to the sense of security among inmates in the temporary cells of prisons and detention facilities. I have personally conducted three studies among men in the transitional period of imprisonment, twice in the correctional facility in Pińczów (2013 and 2016) and in 2017 in the Detention facility in Kielce. The randomly selected research sample includes 422 inmates. the author’s own questionnaire for studying the sense of security among inmates in the temporary cell of the correctional facility and detention facility also made it possible to examine their moods and a tendency to present oneself in an excessively favourable manner. In order to verify the research hypotheses, a diagnostic survey method and a method of statistical and comparative analysis were adopted.A factor analysis revealed that the sense of security among inmates in temporary cells is determined by three factors: fear of inmates’ threatening behaviour, fear of inmates and anxiety. It appeared that the first-time inmates in temporary cells demonstrated more Fear of Inmates than the prisoners returning to it. As far as the fear of inmates’ threatening behaviour and anxiety are concerned, there were no significant differences between first-time inmates in the temporary cell and the prisoners returning to it.