The Implementation and Treatment Outcomes of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention in a Forensic Setting: The Mindfulness Meditation Project
Year: 2019
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: Approximately 2.8% of the U.S. adult population is under some form of supervision by the U.S. correctional system.Individuals in the correctional system have exceedingly higher rates of mental health problems, medical conditions, and psychosocial stressors than the general population, which affects their psychological, cognitive, and behavioral functioning.Mindfulness-based treatments have been found to effectively improve mood disturbances, behavioral control problems, distress from medical conditions, and cognitive processes in non-forensic populations.Similar positive outcomes of mindfulness in forensic settings are progressively surfacing, although there are many areas that warrant further attention and additional research.The current study, the Mindfulness Meditation (MM) Project, examined the implementation and effectiveness of a mindfulness-based treatment in a forensic setting.Participants included individuals in a residential reentry facility for inmates transitioning from prison back to the community.The present study found that MM group participants reported significant pre-to post-treatment improvements on measures of applied mindfulness, emotion and behavior regulation, and self-control and self-management abilities, although no significant changes in overall psychological functioning were reported.iv Further, no significant changes were found in the number of behavior violations from pre-to post-treatment comparing between the MM group participants and a naturally occurring treatment as usual (TAU) group of individuals who did not complete the MM program.Lastly, no significant changes were found in the rates of successful release back to the community or recidivism rates following completion of the program at three different post-release time-periods (six months, 1.5 years, and 2.5 years) between individuals who participated in the MM group and individuals in the TAU comparison group.v
Author: Haenisch, Heidi H
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7038714025