16 Chapter 1 It was suggested that family relationships remained after a prison sentence and that friendships were more likely to disappear or to be replaced. Moreover, other studies found that the majority of the social networks of forensic populations consisted of family members who were likely to be victims in offenses by forensic patients (Estroff, Zimmer, Lachicotte, & Benoit, 1994; Ter Haar-Pomp et al., 2015). In addition, social networks predominantly consisted of formal network members, such as professionals, probation officers, and clinicians, as well as informal members with criminal behaviors and/or attitudes, psychiatric problems, and substance abuse (Skeem et al., 2009; ter Haar-Pomp et al., 2015). Johan used to hang out a lot with friends with whom he drank alcohol and committed crimes. After receiving forensic outpatient treatment, his social network (i.e., the people he trusts and enjoys spending time with) consisted of his younger sister (36 years), his sister's two children (10 and 8 years), his mother (62 years), an uncle (69 years), an old friend from elementary school (male, 40 years), and his social worker and psychologist. He only meets or talks to his mother who also lives in Amsterdam, social worker, and psychologist regularly. His friend he has not seen for over a year. Johan expressed an overall dissatisfaction with his personal social relationships. He would like to meet with people to do something fun. However, he also stressed that he prefers to be alone and that it is better for him to avoid people. The summary of Johan’s social network outlines several aspects of social network characteristics (i.e., network size, contact frequency, quality of relationships, and social network-related needs) (Heaney & Israel, 2008). However, many aspects of the social network remain unclear, such as whether social network members live nearby, the quality of the relationship between different social network members, and whether or not the social relationships provide positive social support (e.g., emotional, informational, instrumental, and appraisal support) (House, 1981; Langford, Bowsher, Maloney, & Lillis, 1997). Moreover, the negative social support (e.g., encouragement of drinking and criminal activities) remains unknown. Although Johan names eight people in his social network, including two children and two professionals who are important to him, he hardly meets anyone other than his mother and professional caregivers. He is dissatisfied, but his social network-related needs seem ambivalent. Stigma Developing and maintaining social relationships in society and actively participating in society can be challenging after imprisonment, long inpatient treatment, and being labeled
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