Description
- Abstract:
- Incarcerated youth often come from underserved backgrounds, in which chronic stress often translates to dangerous, aggressive or criminal actions, aggravated by anxiety associated with resulting incarceration. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR, mindfulness) is a growing tool for improving stress, anxiety, and self-regulation, which is consistent with the needs of incarcerated youth. Based upon the original MBSR framework, we developed a treatment group curriculum focusing on mindfulness for residents of the Rhode Island Training School (RITS), the only correctional facility for juveniles in the state. The curriculum was evaluated using pre- and post- participation surveys that were developed to assess knowledge and value of the material, and acceptability of group activities. The curriculum was delivered to 17 participants (14 boys, three girls; ages 14-18 years) in four small groups during the summer of 2019. After being in the group, participants demonstrated an average improvement in knowledge of curriculum material by 17 percentage points, and improvement in value of curriculum material by 6 percentage points. Average acceptability of group activities was 83%. Value of mindfulness material increased by an average of 15 percentage points in older participants but decreased by seven percentage points in younger participants. Girls understood, valued and accepted the material less compared to boys, but showed similar improvement in knowledge. In summary, the curriculum was successful and will continue to be offered at the RITS.
- Notes:
- Scholarly concentration: Integrative Health and Contemplative Practice
Access Conditions
- Use and Reproduction
- All rights reserved
Citation
Oring, Shir, Frazier, Elisabeth, Owens, Timothy, Lowenhaupt, Elizabeth,
"Mindfulness in Incarcerated Youth: Developing, Delivering, and Evaluating a Mindfulness Group Curriculum at the Rhode Island Training School"
(2019).
Warren Alpert Medical School Academic Symposium.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:957161/
Relations
Collection:
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Warren Alpert Medical School Academic Symposium
The Warren Alpert Medical School Academic Symposium is an annual event at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University that provides Year II medical students a venue to present their summer research in a poster format. Participation in the Symposium …...