A Gender-Responsive Treatment Facility in Correctional Services: The Development of Psychological Gymnasium for Women Offenders

Mak, Vivian; Ho, Samuel M. Y.; Kwong, Regina W. Y.; Li, W. L.

doi:10.1177/0306624x16667572

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…The study showed that, as cognitive self-schemas, character strengths can be defined as strategies, beliefs, and personal assets (Padesky & Mooney, 2012), which cause changes on negative and positive sides; however, the CBT and positive psychology intervention (PPI) literature do not show a close integration. A newly developed intervention called prison-based psychological gymnasium was set in 2011; this program fused CBT with PPI to address female offenders’ needs, and the results indicated significant reduction in their negative emotions (e.g., depression, anxiety, and stress) and remarkable increase in their positive sense (e.g., hope and gratitude; Mak, Ho, Kwong, & Li, 2016). However, this initial trial targeted at a special group.…”

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Randomized Trial Investigating of a Single-Session Character-Strength-Based Cognitive Intervention on Freshman’s Adaptability

Duan

2017

Research on Social Work Practice

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To investigate the efficiency of a single-session character-strength-based cognitive intervention on enhancing freshmen's adaptability. Method: A randomized trial, pretest, posttest, follow-up intervention was employed using repeated-measures analyses to evaluate the effect. This 90-min intervention contained four activities with 52 undergraduate freshmen (age 17-20) randomly assigned to the intervention and control group, 38 of whom completed all the programs (19 of each group). Results: Compared with the control group, the intervention group showed a remarkable increase in well-being and a significant reduction in depression and anxiety at post and follow-up assessment. The stress level of the intervention group significantly decreased only at the follow-up test. Time effect and the interaction between time and group were significant in anxiety and stress. Conclusions: This intervention can quickly reduce negative affect and elevate well-being for freshmen. It expands the role of social worker in the prevention of mental illness among college population.

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Randomized Trial Investigating of a Single-Session Character-Strength-Based Cognitive Intervention on Freshman’s Adaptability

Duan

2017

Research on Social Work Practice

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Relationships between hope and mental health among women in prison

Mak¹,

Li³

et al. 2021

Criminal Behav Ment Health

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Background Previous research with non‐offenders has linked a higher dispositional cognition of hope to lower levels of psychological symptoms and demonstrated mediating effects of attentional biases on the relationship between hope and psychological symptoms, but this has not been explored among offenders. Aims Our aim was to investigate associations between a dispositional cognition of hope and habitual attentional processing styles and distress among women in prison. We hypothesised that higher levels of hope would be associated with more attention to positive information and less to negative information in the surroundings and, in turn, lower levels of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms in women in prison. Method In a cross‐sectional study, we recruited consenting women serving a prison sentence who had been referred to psychological services. Participants completed a set of self‐rating inventories individually, which scaled their levels of hope, attention to positive and negative information and symptoms of anxiety, stress and depression. Results Two hundred and three women participated. Their average age was 35.68 years (range 21–67 years). Over half were recidivists (170, 58%). Overall, the higher the level of hope they had, the lower were the ratings of their psychological symptoms. Positive attentional bias was associated with higher hope and lower psychological distress. In contrast, negative attentional bias was related to lower hope and higher psychological distress ratings. In statistical models, both attentional biases appeared to be partial mediators of the relationship between hope and psychological distress. Conclusions Our findings among women in prison were consistent with those in non‐forensic populations and not previously studied among prisoners. They suggest that it would be worth evaluating interventions to modify attentional styles as they may have value in increasing hope and reducing psychological symptoms and perhaps also harmful behaviours in this vulnerable population.

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Empowering Female Offenders: A Model and Framework for Practice

Chen

2023

Women's Empowerment for a Sustainable Future

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A Gender-Responsive Treatment Facility in Correctional Services: The Development of Psychological Gymnasium for Women Offenders

Cited by 5 publications

References 43 publications

Randomized Trial Investigating of a Single-Session Character-Strength-Based Cognitive Intervention on Freshman’s Adaptability

Randomized Trial Investigating of a Single-Session Character-Strength-Based Cognitive Intervention on Freshman’s Adaptability

Relationships between hope and mental health among women in prison

Empowering Female Offenders: A Model and Framework for Practice

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