The Impact of Trauma-Sensitive Yoga on Persons Who Are Incarcerated: Identifying, Understanding, and Controlling Emotions.

BACKGROUND: While persons who are incarcerated have high rates of previous trauma, further traumatization can result from the experience of incarceration. The inability to effectively process trauma can lead to maladaptive behavior, a serious concern for correctional administrators. Acquiring the skills to regulate emotions and mitigate feelings of impulsivity help persons who are incarcerated take responsibility for their actions to make better decisions, simultaneously encouraging prosocial behavior, decreasing institutional misconduct, and reducing behaviors that place one at risk for repeated involvement in the criminal justice system. PURPOSE: Trauma-sensitive yoga (TSY) is one correctional intervention that can effectively address misconduct issues. Yet, the specific impact of TSY on populations who are incarcerated has not been empirically investigated. METHODS: A mixed-methods study, utilizing pretest and posttest interviewing, was conducted with male residents in a New York jail who completed a 4-week TSY program. RESULTS: Data indicated that those who participated in TSY experienced statistically significant improvements in self-esteem, self-control, resilience, institutional conduct, self-efficacy, and emotion regulation. Qualitative data also indicated high levels of connectivity with other TSY class participants. IMPLICATIONS: This research implies that cost-effective interventions like TSY have the ability to produce beneficial outcomes within a short time, which is integral to furthering rehabilitative efforts within the transient nature of the jail setting.

Coping with Depression, Anxiety & Stress: The Healing Effects of a Jail-Based Trauma Sensitive Yoga Program.

Stress, anxiety and depression, often linked to internalizing/externalizing behaviors, are remarkedly high in a jail-based setting when one's future is uncertain. While research demonstrates that carceral yoga programs can provide physiological/psychological benefits, persons who are incarcerated, who have high rates of trauma-related experiences and mental illness, might benefit more from a trauma sensitive approach. Empirical studies examining the specific impact of trauma sensitive yoga (TSY) on populations who are incarcerated appear unavailable, necessitating this exploratory investigation with male residents in a TSY intervention at a New York jail. Through pre and post-test interviewing and a mixed methods data analysis, data indicated that those who participated in TSY experienced statistically significant increases in overall health, in addition to statistically significant reductions in stress, anxiety, depression and institutional misconduct. Qualitative analyses suggested that male participants experienced transcendence of the jail environment, easing the monotony of the correctional setting. TSY also provided them with new opportunities, the ability to regulate emotions/behaviors and initiate personal growth/changes within. Hence, this research implies that TSY, a benign intervention, easily implemented in a correctional setting, has the ability to beget benefits for persons who are incarcerated within a short period of time. This is vital to providing rehabilitative options within the transient nature of the jail setting.

Dialogic Health Education to Reduce COVID-19 Disparities and Increase Health Literacy in Community and Correctional Settings: Protocol for a Two-Pronged Health Education Program.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 vaccines significantly reduce rates of hospitalization and death for those infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Those facing social oppression, including people of color, experience heightened risk for COVID-19 and comorbidities, but are often mistrustful of governmental agencies and initiatives, contributing to low vaccine uptake and a reluctance to access vital health care services. Dialogue-based health literacy interventions may mitigate mistrust and increase access to health services and information, subsequently increasing rates of vaccination and other behaviors that reduce COVID-19 risk. OBJECTIVE: To improve health literacy and reduce COVID-19 disparities, the Westchester County Department of Health, in partnership with two universities, community- and faith-based organizations, and the Westchester County Department of Correction, co-developed a health education program for community members, correctional officers, and incarcerated jail residents in Westchester, New York. Specific objectives are to increase preventative health behaviors, positive attitudes toward use of public health protocols, full vaccination or intentions to vaccinate, health care information understanding, health provider care access, clear communication with health care providers, and personal health care decision-making. METHODS: Grounded in dialogic learning, the program entails training community-based "trusted messengers" and correctional officers to lead health information sessions in community and correctional settings. During the grant period, the program intends for 80 community-based trusted messengers to receive training from the Department of Health and will be expected to reach a goal of 100 members (N=8000) of their communities. Correctional staff with experience delivering educational programs will be trained to facilitate sessions among 400 correctional facility residents and 600 correctional staff. RESULTS: Pre-post surveys will assess changes in health behaviors, attitudes, and perceptions. The program has been administered in the correctional facility since February 2022, with information sessions expected to cease for correctional staff and residents in June 2022 and November 2022, respectively. An initial cohort of community-based trusted messengers began training in February 2022, and information sessions have been scheduled in various virtual and community settings since March 2022. As of April 2022, the two-pronged health education program has reached 439 correctional officers, 98 jail residents, and 201 community members countywide. Program evaluation findings will be released in future publications after study implementation is complete. CONCLUSIONS: Few studies have evaluated the combined effects of training-of-trainers (ToT) and dialogical learning models on behavior and health literacy. As the first known COVID-19-specific dialogue-based health education program that applies a ToT model in the community-based, correctional, and virtual settings simultaneously, this study fills a gap in current knowledge about health literacy and health behavior in marginalized populations. Thus, this evidence-based framework can remedy COVID-19 disparities while also addressing risks for a host of health-related issues at the community level, potentially serving as a best-practice model for future health programs. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/37713.

Do as I Say, Not What I Do: The Practices of HIV Prison Peer Educators.

The rate of new HIV infections has declined over the past several years. Mass education pertaining to preventive measures is often credited for its decline, particularly among incarcerated populations where the infection rates are often higher than in the general community. Interestingly, those tasked with providing the education may not always practice the preventive measures taught. Interviews were conducted with 49 incarcerated women who worked in two HIV prison-based peer programs during their incarceration. Responses indicated that although participants were comfortable discussing their sex/drug histories with partners or potential partners, approximately half of participants did not practice safer sex consistently during/after the time they were working as HIV peer educators.

Prisoner Parenting: Parenting From a Federal Jail.

While mothers are incarcerated, the disruption to the bond with their children places both at risk for emotional and behavioral problems. Parenting skills education can help to restore these bonds. Utilizing a pre- and posttest quasi-experimental design, we evaluated the effects of an evidence-based parenting program on females housed in a federal jail managed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Findings indicate statistically significant decreases in depression, parental stress, and anxiety, and increased self-esteem. Participants also had increased contact with their children and reported more confidence in their parenting skills. Results imply that programs developed for women that enhance parenting skills and improve relationships with their children and/or children's caregivers are important jail-based interventions.

Parenting from a County Jail: Parenting from Beyond the Bars.

The incarceration of mothers affects 1.7 million minor children who are at high risk of behavioral problems, emotional trauma, and future incarceration. The jail setting removes women from society for brief periods of time providing an opportunity to offer essential interventions for those who will be returning to the community, and possibly their children, rather quickly. Utilizing a pre- and post-test quasi-experimental design, we measured the self-reported treatment effects for female inmates, housed in a county jail in the New York metropolitan area, who completed an evidence-based parenting program. Program participants reported reduced depression, increased parental knowledge, and increased communication with their families and fellow inmates. The results indicated that alternative ways of measuring program success are needed - particularly for populations who present with long histories of criminal justice involvement and drug use.

It's Not the CSI Effect: Criminal Justice Students' Choice of Major and Career Goals.

The media tends to influence public perceptions of the criminal justice system. The media's impact, known as the CSI Effect, is not well documented in criminal justice majors. The present study adds to a small body of literature regarding the impact of media on criminal justice students' decisions, and seeks to identify the factors that influence students' choices, regarding their major/career goals. Based on the results from surveys administered at an urban university in the United States, most criminal justice students reported that they were not influenced by the media, yet the vast majority believed this to be true of their fellow majors. These students chose criminal justice because they found the subject matter interesting and relevant to the real world, and they wanted to work in a field in which they could be a problem solver. Upon graduation, these students overwhelmingly reported an interest in pursuing a career in federal law enforcement. Unfortunately, corrections, a field dedicated to working with offenders, was the lowest preferred profession among criminal justice students.

Female Offenders, HIV Peer Programs, and Attachment: The Importance of Prison-Based Civilian Staff in Creating Opportunities to Cultivate Prosocial Behaviors.

As women commit to a conventional lifestyle, the bond of attachment becomes a fundamental component in sustaining the desistance process. If weak attachments in the community cannot be replaced or enhanced with the cultivation of strong conventional attachments while incarcerated, female offenders will leave prison without a supportive network. Strong social networks and a high level of social capital are essential for female offenders to reintegrate successfully; if social bonds are constructed before release, there is a greater chance of maintaining a crime-free lifestyle. One way to cultivate strong bonds of attachment during incarceration is through prison-based programming. This qualitative study, based on the narratives of 49 female offenders, examines the potential for inmates to form prosocial attachments with staff in two HIV prison-based peer programs in New York State. Strong attachments were formed between the inmates and civilian staff during incarceration, maintained upon release, and served to reinforce the establishment of bourgeoning conventional identities. The dedication and commitment of the civilian staff, and the support they provided to the inmates, was essential to achieving both rehabilitative and reintegrative goals.

Counting down: HIV prison-based peer education programs and their connection to reduced disciplinary infractions.

Involvement in prosocial prison activities can ameliorate rule-breaking conduct and assist in the reinforcement of conventional behavior. Extant research shows a connection between participation in traditional educational/vocational programs and reduced prison infractions. However, studies that examine a correlation between less traditional prison programs and better institutional conduct are lacking. This study analyzed rates of disciplinary infractions among 49 female prisoners that worked in two HIV prison-based peer programs (AIDS, Counseling, and Education [ACE] and CARE [Counseling, AIDS, Resource, and Education]) as peer educators during their incarceration. These women were unlikely to jeopardize their position by engaging in unlawful or deviant behaviors. Results showed that working in programs like ACE/CARE prevented periods of maladjustment and subsequent disciplinary infractions during incarceration.