Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Meditation Practices and the Reduction of Aggression and Violence: Towards a Gender-Sensitive, Humanitarian, Healing-Based Intervention

  • Chapter
Alternative Offender Rehabilitation and Social Justice

Abstract

Contemporary solutions to the problem of violence at the individual level usually involve punitive social control mechanisms. As a humane alternative, meditation programs within correctional institutions are experiencing growth and greater acceptance in North America. A handful of scholarly and anecdotal studies report reduced violence, aggression, and anger and increased self-awareness and hopefulness among inmates who take up meditation and contemplative practices (Phillips, 2008; Parkum & Stultz, 2000). In this chapter we explore the mechanisms of reducing violence and aggression and combating recidivism through meditation programs and practices. We situate this phenomenon within a larger socio-cultural framework that considers the gender-specific subjectivities of a majority male correctional population.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Abrams, A. I., & Siegel, L. M. (1978). The Transcendental Meditation program and rehabilitation at Folsom State Prison: A cross-validation study. Criminal Justice and Behaviour 5: 3–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, C. N., Walton, K. G., & Goodman, R. S. (2003). Walpole Study of the Transcendental Meditation Program in Maximum Security Prisoners I, Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 36 (1–4): 97–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, C. N., Walton, K. G., Orme-Johnson, D. W., Goodman, R. S., & Pallone, N. J. (Eds.) (2003). Transcendental meditation in criminal rehabilitation and crime prevention. Binghamton, BY: Haworth Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, C. N., Robinson, P., & Rainforth, M. (1994). Treating and preventing alcohol, nicotine, and drug abuse through Transcendental Meditation: A review and statistical meta-analysis. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly 11: 13–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., technical revision). Washington, DC: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anklesarie, F. K., & King, M. S. (2003). The transcendental meditation program in the Senegalese penitentiary system. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 36: 303–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, E. (2000). Code of the street: Decency, violence, and the moral life of the inner city. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baer, R. A. (2003). Mindfulness training as clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical Psychology Science Practice 10: 125–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, R., & Rivers, C. (2005). Same difference: How gender myths are hurting our relationships, our children, and our jobs. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Black, D. S., Milam, J., & Sussman, S. (2009). Sitting-meditation interventions among youth: A review of treatment efficacy. Pediatrics 124 (3): 532–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bleick, C. R., & Abrams, A. I. (1987). The Transcendental Meditation program and criminal recidivism in California. Journal of Criminal Justice 15: 211–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borders, A., Earleywine, M., & Jajodia, A. (2010). Could mindfulness decrease anger, hostility, and aggression by decreasing rumination? Aggressive Behaviour 36: 28–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 84: 822–48.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chambers, R., Lo, B. C. Y., & Allen, N. B. (2008). The impact of intensive mindfulness training on attentional control, cognitive style, and affect. Cognitive Therapy and Research 32: 303–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, F. (2008). Final Fact-Finding Report, S. H., et al, v. Stickrath. Retrieved February 2, 2014, from http://www.dys.ohio.gov/DNN/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=lDovnn7P96A%3 D&tabid = 81 &mid = 394.

  • Davis, R. N., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2000). Cognitive inflexibility among ruminators and non-ruminators. Cognitive Therapy and Research 24: 669–711.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuchs, S. (2001). Beyond agency. Sociological Theory 19: 25–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hart, W. (1987). The art of living: vipassana meditation as taught by S. N. Goenka. San Francisco: HarperCollins Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayes S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K. G. (1999). Acceptance and commitment therapy: An experiential approach to behaviour change. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Healing Traumatic Stress and Raising Performance in At-Risk Populations (n. d.). David Lynch Foundation. Retrieved March 7, 2014, from http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/.

  • Henry, B., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., & Silva, P. A. (1996). Temperamental and familial predictors of violent and non-violent criminal convictions: From age 3 to age 18. Developmental Psychology 32: 614–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heppner, W. L., Kernis, M. H., Lakey, C. E., Campbell, W. K., Goldman, B. M., Davis, P. J., & Cascio, E. V. (2008). Mindfulness as a means of reducing aggressive behaviour: dispositional and situational evidence. Aggressive Behaviour 34: 486–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Himelstein, S. (2011). Meditation research: The state of the art in correctional settings. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 55 (4): 646–61.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hunnicutt, G. (2009). Varieties of patriarchy and violence against women: Resurrecting “patriarchy” as a theoretical tool. Violence Against Women 15 (5): 553–73.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kenney, T. A., Smith, B. A., & Donzella, B. (2001). The influence of sex, gender, self-discrepancies and self-awareness on anger and verbal aggressiveness among U.S. college students. Journal of Social Psychology 141: 245–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lesh, T. (1970). Zen meditation and the development of empathy in counselors. Journal of Humanistic Psychology 10 (1): 39–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linehan, M. (1993). Cognitive-behavioural treatment of borderline personality disorder. New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Magill, D. L. (2003). Cost savings from teaching the transcendental meditation program in prisons. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 36: 319–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCann, R. A., & Ball, E. M. (2000). DBT with an Inpatient Forensic Population: The CMHIP Forensic Model. Cognitive and Behavioural Practice 7: 447–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menahemi, A., & Areil, E. (1997). Doing Time, Doing Vipassana. Documentary film. Israel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mission, Vision and Values (n. d.). The Prison Mindfulness Institute. Retrieved March 14, 2014, from: www.prisonmindfulness.org.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, D. W. (2008). Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist experience (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nurse, A. M. (2010). Locked up, locked out: Young men in the juvenile justice system. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parkum, V. C., & Stultz, J. A. (2000). The Angulimala linage: Buddhist prison ministries. In C. S. Queen (Ed.), Engaged Buddhism in the West (pp. 347–71). Boston: Wisdom Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, J. (2008). Letters from The Dhamma Brothers. Onalaska, WA: Pariyatti Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Philips, J. (2007). The Dharma Brothers. Documentary film. USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prentice-Dunn, S., & Rogers, R. W. (1982). Effects of public and private self-awareness on deindividuation and aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 43: 503–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raine, A. (2013). The anatomy of violence: The biological roots of crime. New York: Pantheon Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rainforth, M. V., Alexander, C. N., & Cavanaugh, K. L. (2003). Effects of the Transcendental Meditation program on recidivism among former inmates of Folsom Prison: Survival analysis of 15-year follow-up data. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 36: 181–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramel, W., Goldin, P. R., Carmona, P. E., & McQuaid, J. R. (2004). The effects of mindfulness meditation on cognitive processes and affect in patients with past depression. Cognitive Therapy Research 28: 433–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reps, P., & Senzaki, N. (1994). Zen flesh, Zen bones. Boston: Shambhala.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheier, M. F., Fenigstein, A., & Buss, A. H. (1974). Self-awareness and physical aggression. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 10: 264–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schuhmacher, S., & Woerner, G. (Eds.) (1986). The encyclopedia of Eastern philosophy and religion: Buddhism, Taoism, Zen, Hinduism. Boston: Shambhala Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, E., & Steinberg, L. (2008). Rethinking juvenile justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, S. L., Carlson, L. E., Astin, J. A., & Freedman, B. (2006). Mechanisms of mindfulness. Journal of Clinical Psychology 62: 373–86.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, S. L., Oman, D., Thoresen, C. E., Plante, T. G., Flinders, T. (2008). Cultivating mindfulness: Effects on well-being. Journal of Clinical Psychology 64: 840–62.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shelton, D., Sampl, S., Kesten, K. L., Zhang, W., & Trestman, R. L. (2009). Treatment of impulse aggression in correctional settings. Behavioural Sciences and the Law 27: 787–800.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, S. L., Swartz, G. E., & Bonner, G. (1998). Effects of mindfulness based stress reduction on medical and premedical students. Journal of Behavioural Medicine 21 (6): 581–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, S. L., & Walsh, R. (2003). An analysis of recent meditation research and suggestions for future directions. The Humanistic Psychologist 31: 86–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, J. (2007). Adolescents with conduct disorder can be mindful of their aggressive behaviour. Journal of Emotional and Behavioural Disorders 15: 56–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder, H. N., & Sickmund, M. (2006). Juvenile offenders and victims: 2006 national report. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thích Nhâ´t Hanh (2012). Awakening of the heart: Essential Buddhist sutras and commentaries. Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walton, K. G., & Levitsky D. K. (2008). Effects of the Transcendental Meditation Program on neuroendocrine abnormalities associated with aggression and crime. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 36 (1–4): 67–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wegner, D. M., & Zanakos, S. (1994). Chronic thought suppression. Journal of Personality 62: 615–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Gwen Hunnicutt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Daniel Rhodes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Toronto, Canada

    Janelle Joseph

  2. University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Canada

    Wesley Crichlow

Copyright information

© 2015 Gwen Hunnicutt and Daniel Rhodes

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Hunnicutt, G., Rhodes, D. (2015). Meditation Practices and the Reduction of Aggression and Violence: Towards a Gender-Sensitive, Humanitarian, Healing-Based Intervention. In: Joseph, J., Crichlow, W. (eds) Alternative Offender Rehabilitation and Social Justice. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137476821_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation