The article theoretically analyzes the psychological features of the adaptation of war prisoners to the conditions of captivity.

Captivity is always a condition of forced isolation, which has a certain negative impact on the individual’s psyche, which destroys value orientations and affects the future life of a war prisoner. The degree of deformation of the consciousness of war prisoners depends on many factors, among which several main ones can be distinguished: the circumstances under which the prisoner was taken prisoner, the conditions of keeping the prisoner of war in captivity; physical restraint (handcuffs; lack of individual space; dissatisfaction of physiological needs; uncomfortable conditions of detention; humiliation, insults.

Captivity carries with it certain consequences for a war prisoner, which are manifested in physiological, somatic, psychological, social changes, which are reflected in social and personal factors, which constitute the essence of the prisoner’s identity. The individual characteristics of the war prisoner, which have certain changes in his basic mental processes and phenomena, are also revealed.

Key words: captivity, war prisoner, adaptation, maladaptation, mental states, phases of captivity, stages of captivity, personality, behavior.

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