Mindful Meditation and Misconduct: A Proposal

Rehabilitation and treatment methods used in incarceration have evolved, causing punishment philosophies in the U. S. to swing from rehabilitation to “zero tolerance” and back again. As this transition occurs, it is essential to evaluate current correctional programs as there has been a trend towards evidence-based corrections. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the SAVR (stress, anger, violence reduction) program implemented by a county jail in Massachusetts. This research will examine the extent to which participating in SAVR reduces inmate misconduct. The participants will be selected through a non-probability, convenience sample of program participants. Misconduct files will be retrieved from those who participated in at least 60 days of the program. The number of misconduct before entering the program will be counted and compared to the misconduct that occurs 60 days after completing the program, and 90 days after the program if applicable. Policy implications and directions for future research will be considered. Keywords​: Corrections, Mindful Meditation, SAVR Program, Misconduct, Rehabilitative Programming, Evaluation MINDFUL MEDITATION AND MISCONDUCT Introduction A Correctional Pendulum Shift Throughout American history, the purpose of incarceration has varied. For the first seven decades of the 20th century, rehabilitation was the main focus in the area of corrections (Cullen & Gendreau, 2012). The first quarter of the 1900s, known as the Progressive Era, was mainly focused on an “age of reform” where the term “penitentiary” began to gain attention and alluded to the idea that a prison or jail should reform rather than punish (Cullen, 2013). The “corrections era” occurred in the next 50-year period where rehabilitative efforts held their place, and the correctional system further improved due to an increase in empirical evidence suggesting that offender rehabilitation improved public safety (Cullen & Gendreau, 2012). Over time there was a public opinion shift, and by the mid-1970s, rehabilitation was dead. According to the people, the state could not be trusted, which led to the rejection of offender treatment despite an increase in empirical evidence (Cullen, 2013). Robert Martinson solidified the end of rehabilitation in corrections through his publication of the “nothing works doctrine” in 1974 (Cullen & Gendreau, 2012). Martinson reported his findings displayed that rehabilitative efforts have had no real effect on recidivism, the primary purpose of rehabilitation. This publication fueled the implementation of the “justice model,” introduced during the Nixon era (Cullen, 2013). The “justice model’s” defining purpose of sentencing was that of just desserts (Cullen & Gendreau, 2012). Therefore, the prison experience no longer focused on improving people but rather warehousing them, and many programs were cut or deemed unnecessary as a reflection of the Martinson report (Cullen, 2013). Years later, Martinson published an analysis of 555 studies and concluded that some treatment MINDFUL MEDITATION AND MISCONDUCT programs might affect recidivism. The release of this document transformed the debate between rehabilitation and the “justice model” to how can the correctional system be effective as a whole (Cullen, 2013)? Therefore, it is essential to evaluate research that focuses on inmate misconduct and programs that reduce recidivism. Researchers have found that institutional misconduct likely occurs because the inmate is more prone to stress, anger, and violence because of internal and external factors such as family instability, mental illness, or childhood (Williams-McGahee, 2015). Researchers believe that if these institutions were to work towards implementing methods to reduce these tendencies (stress, anger, and violence) within the inmates, institutional misconduct and recidivism will decrease (Cullen, 2013). As a result, the need to explore other, more practical, alternative interventions to reduce inmate stress and anxiety has come about. One such alternative is mindful meditation (Cullen & Gendreau, 2012). This study seeks to evaluate a mindful-meditation program, Stress, Anger, and Violence Reduction (SAVR), implemented at an MA county jail. The goal of the evaluation is to be able to determine whether the program impacts institutional misconduct for the participants. I predict that inmate participation in the SAVR program reduces institutional misconduct. Official jail records of inmate misconduct will be analyzed quantitatively to test the hypothesis. Previous studies have yet to examine whether or not mindful meditation affects institutional misconduct, and this research intends to fill that gap. MINDFUL MEDITATION AND MISCONDUCT Literature Review Mindful Meditation Current correctional research acknowledges the value of rehabilitative programming and seeks to implement programs that consistently and efficiently improve the prison experience for inmates. While incarcerated, the environment of prison or jail can be extremely stressful, which may make the inmate more prone to anger and violence. As practitioners were trying different methods of rehabilitation, an interest in a combination of mindfulness and meditation in a correctional facility has come about. It was in the 1970s that volunteer-led meditation classes sprung up in prisons across the United States (Cullen, 2013). While empirical research was scarce on the topic of mindful meditation in a correctional facility at that time, researchers have taken the initiative to explore if this method could reduce stress anger and violence in inmates, as well as reduce institutional misconduct and recidivism rates (Williams-McGahee, 2015). India is where the practice of meditation originates, connecting the philosophical and spiritual traditions known as Buddhism. The symbolic Buddha represents each individual's ability to find enlightenment and transcend human suffering, negative thoughts, and emotion (Wanda & Park, 2009). Meditation can be defined explicitly as a purposive process of self-regulation of one's attention. The regulation of one's attention may be achieved by sitting and focusing on the breath, walking, cleaning, or petting an animal. Mindfulness occurs when one's awareness purposefully pays nonjudgmental attention to the present moment and sensations (Himelstein, 2011). While mindfulness allows an individual to focus and control their thoughts, a reduction in reactivity comes about (Samuelson, Carmody, Kabat-Zinn, & Bratt, 2007). Similar MINDFUL MEDITATION AND MISCONDUCT to meditation, mindfulness is a Buddhist belief that acknowledges that the untrained mind is what contributes to human suffering (Williams-McGahee, 2015). It is when meditation and mindfulness are practiced simultaneously, that an opportunity for stress and anxiety reduction to develop within one's self. It was in the year 1979 that John Kabat-Zinn developed the concept of Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) at UMass Amherst (Himelstein, 2011). His original goal was to provide a coping source for patients dealing with intense chronic conditions and emotional situations. MBSR typically operates as an 8-week mindfulness-based program. The program focuses on three specific techniques: being aware of the breath while sitting in meditation, a body scan, and Hatha yoga postures (Samuelson et al., 2007). After completion of the 8-week program, the techniques learned can be molded to fit the individual practitioner. Corrections have utilized Kabat-Zinn's program. In a correctional environment, the program typically operates in a classroom-like setting with yoga mats. Here the participants sit silently and are prompted to the practice of meditation and mindfulness for about an hour by a licensed practitioner (Williams-McGahee, 2015). Studies have shown that implementing MBSR programs into correctional facilities may assist incarcerated populations in developing healthier psychological functioning, for example, through an improvement in decision making or motivation (Williams-McGahee, 2015). Due to more criminologists publishing empirical data on this topic, there is a rising interest in meditation-based interventions in this unique setting (Samuelson et al., 2007) to implement mindfulness practices to aid the inmates manage stress and improve emotion regulation (Barrett, 2016). MINDFUL MEDITATION AND MISCONDUCT Thoughtful Incarceration Although mindful meditation is still in its infancy, over the last two decades, there has been an increase in empirical evidence regarding Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in correctional facilities (Williams-McGahee, 2015). For example, Samuelson and colleagues (2007) implemented an MBSR program in six different Massachusetts prisons. Before beginning the 8-week program, the researchers distributed a pretest to the participants. After completion of the program, researchers administered the post-test. The data collected demonstrated statistically significant reductions in hostility, increases in self-esteem, and improvements in mood among the participants (Samuelson et al., 2007). This study aided in the growth of attention and curiosity towards mindful meditation in a correctional facility. Additionally, MBSR was studied after implemented into an Alternative to Incarceration program (Barrett, 2017). Through participant observation and open-ended interviews, this research found that mindfulness-based interventions can engender stress reduction and emotion regulation (Barrett, 2017). Evidence continues to show that mindful meditation may assist incarcerated populations in developing healthier psychological functioning, which could contribute to lower recidivism rates (Williams-McGahee, 2015). Women also benefit from MBSR. Experimental evidence suggests that MBSR reduced sleeping difficulties and increased emotion regulation in female inmates (Sumter, Monk-Turner, Turner, 2009). Instead of using a pre and post-test survey