Improving the Wellbeing of Female Prisoners via Psychological Skills Training: A Feasibility Study

Abstract

Prisoners display significantly higher rates of mental disorders and lower mental wellbeing than the general population. The integration of positive psychological interventions in offender supervision has received recent advocacy. The aim of the current pre-post pilot study was to determine the short-term effects of group-based resilience training on mental health outcomes for female offenders and explore intervention acceptability. Offenders ( n = 24) self-selected to partake in a multi-component psychological skill program based on positive psychology, cognitive–behavioural therapy, and mindfulness-based activities. The training was taught in nine sessions of 1.5 hr each. Baseline and follow-up measurements of mental wellbeing and psychological distress were collected and focus groups conducted to investigate participants’ experiences, acceptability, and appropriateness of the training. Moderate to large effect sizes indicating significant improvements were observed for wellbeing, g = 0.75 and distress, g = 0.56. Training was well received by participants and staff and was delivered feasibly within the prison context. The results are encouraging, and a future well-powered study using a rigorous controlled design is warranted.

Internal locus of control buffers the impact of daily stressors on Australian Farmers' well‐being: A cross‐sectional study

“…32,33 An 8-week strengths-based intervention which focused on cultivating character strengths, emotion regulation, constructive communication, effective decision-making, problem solving, and gratitude enhanced college students' well-being. 34 Similar programs showed promising results with health care workers, 35 prisoners, 36 and older adults (Wolinsky et al, 2010). 33 It may be that a strengths-based approach could be utilised to enhance farmers' well-being through strengthening their internal locus of control.…”

Potential resilience treatments for orangutans (Pongo spp.): Lessons from a scoping review of interventions in humans and other animals

“…Although there are clear differences between human prisoners and animals in long-term captivity, particularly regarding the intentions and causes underlying each situation, there are arguably similarities in the physical limitations and psychological stress (Morgan & Tromborg 2007 ) resulting from long-term life in captivity. In a resilience training programme with similar methods to Lo et al ( 2020 ), Smith et al ( 2018 ) found that the longer participants engaged with resilience training, the greater the benefit they experienced. This indicates that it is beneficial to integrate resilience-building interventions throughout the whole rehabilitation period, to maximise the potential benefits.…”

“…Several interventions were found to significantly increase resilience (Steinhardt & Doblier 2010 ; Peng et al 2014 ; Rogerson et al 2016 ; Pluess et al 2017 ; van Agteren et al 2018 ; Joyce et al 2018 ; Henshall et al 2020 ), particularly in individuals who initially had low levels of resilience (Peng et al 2014 ; van Agteren et al 2018 ). In applying a resilience training programme to female prisoners, which focused on mindfulness techniques, ‘positive psychology’ (see ; Supplementary material), and cognitive behavioural therapy, Lo et al ( 2020 ) identified a greater beneficial effect of the programme for long-term prisoners than prisoners awaiting release. This is encouraging for orangutans unable to be released into the wild who need to cope with pressures connected with long-term life in captivity, for example relative space limitations and lack of environmental complexity.…”

“…A range of studies that focused on talking therapies found benefits in measures of specific aspects of resilience, including the ability to cope, proactivity, self-esteem, confidence, and lower levels of stress, depression, anxiety, inflexibility, and negative or suppressed emotions (Steinhardt & Doblier 2010;Peng et al 2014;Gallegos-Guajardo et al 2015;Pluess et al 2017;van Agteren et al 2018;Joyce et al 2018;Foster et al 2018;Henshall et al 2020;Kozina 2020;Lo et al 2020;Akeman et al 2020). Pluess et al (2017) identified long-lasting beneficial effects in schoolchildren who had participated in a resilience treatment programme, when tested six and twelve months after the treatment.…”

Burnout Among Probation Officers: The Importance of Resilience

“…As a dispositional trait, hardiness develops early in life and is typically stable over the life course. The concept of dispositional resilience has been widely found to modulate the effects of stress among samples and topics ranging from college students (Sagone & De Caroli, 2014) and children of migrant farmworkers (Taylor & Ruiz, 2019) to physicians (Taku, 2014), prisoners (Lo et al, 2020), law enforcement officers (Williams et al, 2010), and women with delayed menstrual cycles (Palm Fischbachher & Ehlert, 2014). One meta-analysis of 180 studies found that hardiness is significantly and negatively related to stress and positively related to performance, and these effects hold net of other personality characteristics (Eschleman et al, 2010).…”