NCJ Number
219647
Journal
The Prison Journal Volume: 87 Issue: 2 Dated: June 2007 Pages: 254-268
Date Published
June 2007
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This study examined the effectiveness of the mindfulness-based stress reduction courses provided in six Massachusetts Department of Corrections prisons.
Abstract
Results of the study provide strong support for the feasibility and effectiveness of meditation-based interventions in correctional settings. Significant improvements were found on widely accepted measures of hostility, self-esteem, and mood disturbance. Improvements for women were greater than those for men, and improvements were also greater for men in a minimum-security, prerelease facility than for those in four medium-security facilities. Mindfulness is a sustained nonreactive attention to one’s ongoing mental contents and processes. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an 8-week program of intensive training in mindfulness (moment-to-moment awareness) and its integration into everyday life. MBSR was developed at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in 1979 by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn. Based on the belief that some of the psychological factors that lead to criminal behavior may be changed through the practice of mindfulness, the University of Massachusetts Stress Reduction Clinic and the Massachusetts Council on Criminal Justice agreed to conduct a program of MBSR in prisons in the Massachusetts Department of Corrections system. Approximately 2,000 inmates participated in the MBSR program in 6 correctional institutions in Massachusetts between 1992 and 1996. The programs were offered in the Massachusetts women’s prison at Framingham and in five correctional institutions for men, four medium-security facilities and one minimum-security facility. Evaluation assessments were held before and after each course in an attempt to examine the effectiveness of the MBSR program. Tables, notes and references