Death anxiety and vulnerability factors associated in sex offenders held at the Elderly Prison, Costa Rica

Abstract

Objective: To establish the relationship between vulnerability factors and death anxiety in sex offenders imprisoned in an Elderly Prison. Methodology: Study of mixed type, with a correlational and cross-range. Instruments: Death Anxiety Scale by Templer (DAS -1), State- Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS), The Personal Vulnerability Factors Questionnaire and The Institutional Vulnerability Factors Questionnaire created for the purposes of this research. Sample: 103 elderlies from general population and 80 prisoners. Conclusions: In the study sample, the death anxiety is associated with failure to receive adequate medical care, a situation that makes them more vulnerable to die in prison; in addition, its status as older adults have a higher physical deterioration, which increases in an environment like prison, because of the conditions to which they are exposed.