The Benefits of Meditation Practice in the Correctional Setting

Abstract

This research examined the impact of a structured meditation program intervention on female detainees, comparing an experimental group and a control group for medical symptoms, emotions, and behaviors before and after the intervention. A 2 1/2-hour meditation session was held once a week for 7 weeks. Study participants completed a medical symptoms checklist before the program began and after it ended. At the posttest period, the experimental group experienced fewer sleeping difficulties, less desire to throw things or hit people, and less nail or cuticle biting; were more hopeful about their future; and felt less guilt. Meditation was beneficial for this population and may be a cost-effective tool for inmates and administrators. Meditation effects, especially among inmates, merit further research attention.

Mindfulness and other Buddhist-derived interventions in correctional settings: A systematic review

“…A small-scale RCT assessed the effectiveness of a seven-week long meditation program (weekly meetings of 2.5 hours duration) on reported physical and emotional symptoms in female adult detainees (Sumpter, et al, 2009). Participants were allocated to either the meditation program (n=17), or a control condition (n=16).…”

“…These proposals are also grounded in findings of BDI studies (from both forensic and general population/clinical settings) whereby BDIs have been shown to modulate known criminogenic agents, such as negative affective states (Day, 2009), anger (Novaco, 2007), hostility (Perelman, et al, 2012), criminal thinking (Hawkins, 2003), and impulsivity and deficiencies in emotional regulation (Farrington, 2000). Accordingly, BDIs are recommended for the rehabilitation of offenders based on the following theoretical rationale or empirical findings: (i) Buddhist teachings emphasise the uprooting of afflictive mental states (Sanskrit: kleshas) with particular emphasis on the transformation of anger (Howells, et al, 2010), (ii) Buddhist training condenses down to the practice of 'letting-go ' (Khyentse, 2006), including of any maladaptive self-blame or avoidance schemas and Buddhist-based mindfulness practice leads to the dismantling of such strategies (Simpson, et al, 2007), (iii) mindfulness reduces negative affect, reduces stress and anxiety, and improves self-esteem and psychological wellbeing (e.g., Waters, et al, 2009;Samuelson, Carmody, Kabat-Zinn, & Bratt, 2007), (iv) improved self-awareness and present moment awareness are factors that reduce impulsivity (Wright, Day, & Howells, 2009), (v) greater self-awareness also corresponds to an increased ability to label and therefore modulate affective states (Gillespie, Mitchell, Fisher, & Beech, 2012), (vi) regular practice of Buddhist forms of meditation foster inner-calm, improve sleep quality, and lead to reductions in autonomic and psychological arousal (Derezotes, 2000;Sumpter, Monk-Turner, & Turner, 2009), (vii) increased breathing awareness (a fundamental aspect of many forms of Buddhist meditation) increases prefrontal functioning and leads to increased Vagal nerve output and associated reductions in heart rate (Gillespie, et al, 2012), (viii) compassion, lovingkindness, and ethical discipline represent key building-blocks of Buddhist practice and help to foster self-acceptance, tolerance, cooperation, respect, and adaptive interpersonal skills (Dalai Lama, 2001), (ix) Buddhism teaches insight meditation techniques (Sanskrit: vipasyana) in order to dismantle attachment to the ego-self, and reduced 'attachment' in this respect begets reductions in avoidance, dissociation, alexithymia, and fatalistic outlook (Sahdra, Shaver, & Brown, 2010), and (x) Buddhist-based meditation improves control over mental urges and reduces substance-use (e.g., Perelman, et al, 2012).…”

Buddhist philosophy for the treatment of problem gambling

“…Meditative absorption reduces psychological distress, fosters inner-calm, improves sleep quality, and reduces autonomic and psychological arousal (e.g., Derezotes, 2000;Rungreangkulkji, Wongtakee & Thongyot, 2011;Sumpter, Monk-Turner & Turner, 2009). Buddhist-based lovingkindness meditation increases positive affect, reduces negative affect, and improves implicit and explicit positivity towards self and others (Hofmann, Grossman & Hinton, 2011).…”

Mindfulness as a treatment for gambling disorder: Current directions and issues

“…The most widely reported or accepted mechanisms of action include the following: (a) a perceptual shift in the mode of responding and relating to sensory and cognitive-affective stimuli that permits individuals to objectify their cognitive processes and apprehend them as passing phenomena; (b) reductions in relapse and withdrawal symptoms via substituting maladaptive addictive behaviors with a ''positive addiction'' to mindfulness/ meditation (particularly the blissful or tranquil states associated with certain meditative practices); (c) transferring the locus of control for stress from external conditions to internal metacognitive and attentional resources; (d) the modulation of dysphoric mood states and addiction-related shameful and self-disparaging schemas via the cultivation of selfawareness and self-compassion; (e) reductions in salience and myopic focus on reward (i.e. by undermining the intrinsic value and authenticity that individuals assign to the object of addiction) due to a better understanding of the impermanent nature of existence; (f) growth in spiritual awareness that broadens perspective and induces a re-evaluation of life priorities; (g) ''urge surfing'' (the meditative process of adopting an observatory, nonjudgmental, and nonreactive attentional-set towards mental urges) that aids in the regulation of habitual compulsive responses; (h) reduced autonomic and psychological arousal via consciousbreathing-induced increases in prefrontal functioning and vagal nerve output (breath awareness is a central feature of mindfulness practice); (i) increased capacity to defer gratitude due to improvements in levels of patience; and (j) a greater ability to label and therefore modulate mental urges and faulty thinking patterns (Derezotes 2000;Gillespie et al 2012;Rungreangkulki et al 2011;Shonin et al 2013aShonin et al , 2013bSumpter et al 2009). …”