In recent years, yoga practices have been integrated into formal prison rehabilitation programs of the Israel Prison Service (IPS), as part of the informal education system, giving rise to innovative criminological theories such as positive criminology that emphasize the development of offenders’ strengths by facilitating rehabilitation and reintegration processes. The purpose of the present study was to examine the correlation between yoga practice and recidivism among released prisoners who participated in yoga programs during their incarceration in comparison with a matched control group of those who did not participate in yoga programs over a follow-up period of 5 years. To examine the effectiveness of the program, propensity score matching was used to compile the comparison group from among all convicted prisoners who were released from the Israeli prisons. Study results indicate that yoga may affect recidivism, supported by a finding of lower recidivism rates among released prisoners who had practiced yoga during their incarceration, compared with a matched control group. However, further study is needed including randomized controlled trials (RCTs). In light of these positive results, we recommend policy-makers consider expanding alternative practices such as yoga into prisons, in recognition of their contribution to the rehabilitation process through the development of personal and social strengths.
AakvikA. (2001). Bounding a matching estimator: The case of a Norwegian training program. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 63(1), 115–143.
2.
AndrewsD. A.BontaJ.HogeR. D. (1990). Classification for effective rehabilitation: Rediscovering psychology. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 17(1), 19–52.
3.
AndrewsD. A.BontaJ.WormithJ. S. (2011). The risk-need-responsivity (RNR)model: Does adding the good lives model contribute to effective crime prevention?Criminal Justice and Behavior, 38, 735–755.
4.
ApelR. J.SweetenG. (2010). Propensity score matching in criminology and criminal justice. In PiqueroA. R.WeisburdD. (Eds.), Handbook of quantitative criminology (pp. 543–562). Springer.
5.
AutyK. M.CopeA.LieblingA. (2015). A systematic review and meta-analysis of yoga and mindfulness meditation in prison effects on psychological well-being and behavioural functioning. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 61(6), 689–710. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X15602514
6.
BarnesP. M.BloomB.NahinR. L. (2008). Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults and children: United States, 2007. National Health Statistics Reports, 12, 1–23.
7.
BarrettC. J. (2017). Mindfulness and rehabilitation: Teaching yoga and meditation to young men in an alternative to incarceration program. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 61(15), 1719–1738.
8.
BartelsL.OxmanL. N.HopkinsA. (2019). “I would just feel really relaxed and at peace”: Findings from a pilot prison yoga program in Australia. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 63, 2531–2549. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X19854869
9.
BermanE.WalkD. (2015). The recidivism of Israeli criminal prisoners released in 2008. Israel Prison Service Research Unit. (In Hebrew)
10.
BilderbeckA. C.BrazilI. A.FariasM. (2015). Preliminary evidence that yoga practice progressively improves mood and decreases stress in a sample of UK prisoners. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2015, Article 819183.
11.
BilderbeckA. C.FariasM.BrazilI. A.JakobowitzS.WikholmC. (2013). Participation in a 10-week course of yoga improves behavioural control and decreases psychological distress in a prison population. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 47(10), 1438–1445.
12.
BraithwaiteJ. (2001). Restorative justice and a new criminal law of substance abuse. Youth & Society, 33(2), 227–248.
13.
CaliendoM.KopeinigS. (2008). Some practical guidance for the implementation of propensity score matching. Journal of Economic Surveys, 22(1), 31–72.
14.
ChiesaA.SerrettiA. (2009). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for stress management in healthy people: A review and meta-analysis. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 15(5), 593–600.
15.
ChongC. S.TsunakaM.ChanE. P. (2011). Effects of yoga on stress management in healthy adults: A systematic review. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 17(1), 32–38.
16.
CramerH.WardL.SteelA.LaucheR.DobosG.ZhangY. (2016). Prevalence, patterns, and predictors of yoga use: Results of a US nationally representative survey. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 50(2), 230–235.
17.
DerezotesD. (2000). Evaluation of yoga and meditation trainings with adolescent sex offenders. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 17(2), 97–113.
18.
DuncombeE.KomoroskyD.Wong-KimE.TurnerW. (2005). Free inside: A program to help inmates cope with life in prison at Maui Community Correctional Center. Californian Journal of Health Promotion, 3(4), 48–58.
19.
ElishaE.ShohamE.HasisiB.WeisburdD. (2017). For prisoners, “work works”: Qualitative findings from an Israeli program. The Prison Journal, 97(3), 342–363.
20.
EnoshG.BuchbinderE.SmithL. N.ShafirO. (2013). From the “greenhouse” to reality: Challenges faced by graduates of in-prison batterers intervention program. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 28(5), 910–937.
21.
FazelS.WolfA. (2015). A systematic review of criminal recidivism rates worldwide: Current difficulties and recommendations for best practice. PLOS ONE, 10(6). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0130390
22.
GideonL.ShohamE.WeisburdD. L. (2010). Changing prison into a therapeutic milieu: Evidence from the Israeli national rehabilitation center for prisoners. The Prison Journal, 90(2), 179–202.
23.
GrieraM.Clot-GarrellA. (2015). Doing yoga behind bars: A sociological study of the growth of holistic spirituality in penitentiary institutions. In I. Becci & O. Roy (Eds.), Religious diversity in European prisons (pp. 141–157). Springer.
24.
GuseT.HudsonD. (2014). Psychological strengths and posttraumatic growth in the successful reintegration of South African ex-offenders. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 58(12), 1449–1465.
25.
HarnerH.HanlonA. L.GarfinkelM. (2010). Effect of Iyengar yoga on mental health of incarcerated women: A feasibility study. Nursing Research, 59(6), 389–399.
26.
HartfielN.HavenhandJ.KhalsaS. B.ClarkeG.KrayerA. (2011). The effectiveness of yoga for the improvement of well-being and resilience to stress in the workplace. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 37(1), 70–76.
27.
HasisiB.ShohamE.WeisburdD.HavivN.ZeligA. (2016). The “care package,” prison domestic violence programs and recidivism: A quasi-experimental study. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 12(4), 563–586.
28.
HavivN.HasisiB. (2019). Prison Addiction Program and the Role of Integrative Treatment and Program Completion on Recidivism. International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, 63(15-16), 2741–2770.
29.
HimelsteinS. (2011). Mindfulness-based substance abuse treatment for incarcerated youth: A mixed method pilot study. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 30(1–2), 1–10.
30.
KarupA.HallC. (2016). The meaning and effects of yoga in prison [Unpublished master’s thesis]. University of Cambridge.
31.
KewleyS. (2017). Strength based approaches and protective factors from a criminological perspective. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 32, 11–18.
32.
KirkwoodG.RampesH.TuffreyV.RichardsonJ.PilkingtonK. (2005). Yoga for anxiety: A systematic review of the research evidence. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 39(12), 884–891.
33.
LandauP. S.GrossJ. B. (2008). Low reincarceration rate associated with Ananda Marga yoga and meditation. International Journal of Yoga Therapy, 18(1), 43–48.
34.
LiA. W.GoldsmithC. A. (2012). The effects of yoga on anxiety and stress. Alternative Medical Review, 17(1), 21–35.
35.
LipseyM. W.CullenF. T. (2007). The effectiveness of correctional rehabilitation: A review of systematic reviews. Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 3, 297–320.
36.
MacKenzieD. L. (2006). What works in corrections: Reducing the criminal activities of offenders and delinquents. Cambridge University Press.
37.
MarunaS. (2001). Making good: How ex-convicts reform and rebuild their lives. American Psychological Association.
38.
McGuireJ. (Ed.). (2003). Offender rehabilitation and treatment: Effective programmes and policies to reduce re-offending. John Wiley.
39.
MuirheadJ.FortuneC. A. (2016). Yoga in prisons: A review of the literature. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 28, 57–63.
40.
NormanM. (2015). Prison yoga as a correctional alternative? Physical culture, rehabilitation, and social control in Canadian prisons. In JosephJ.CrichlowW. (Eds.), Alternative offender rehabilitation and social justice: Arts and physical engagement in criminal justice and community settings (pp. 78–98). Palgrave Macmillan.
41.
Pew Center on the States. (2011). State of recidivism: The revolving door of America’s prisons. Pew Charitable Trusts.
42.
PhamK. H. (2013). Outcomes of a recreation therapy yoga meditation intervention on prison inmates’ spiritual well-being [Unpublished master’s thesis]. San Jose University.
43.
RonelN. (2015). How can criminology (and victimology) become positive? In RonelN.SegevD. (Eds.), Positive criminology (pp. 13–31). Routledge.
44.
RonelN.Ben YairY. (2018). Spiritual criminology: The case of Jewish criminology. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 62(7), 2081–2102.
45.
RonelN.ElishaE. (2011). A different perspective: Introducing positive criminology. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 55(2), 305–325.
46.
RonelN.FridN.TimorU. (2013). The practice of positive criminology: A vipassana course in prison. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 57(2), 133–153.
47.
RonelN.SegevD. (2014). Positive criminology in practice. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 58(11), 1389–1407.
48.
RonelN.TorenY. A. T. (2012). Positive victimology: An innovation or “more of the same”?Temida, 15(2), 171–180.
49.
RosenbaumP. R. (2002). Sensitivity to hidden bias. In RosenbaumP. R. (Ed.), Observational studies (pp. 105–170). Springer.
50.
RosenbaumP. R.RubinD. B. (1985). Constructing a control group using multivariate matched sampling methods that incorporate the propensity score. The American Statistician, 39(1), 33–38.
51.
RossR. R. (1980). Socio-cognitive development in the offender: An external review of the UVIC program at Matsqui penitentiary. University of Ottawa Department of Criminology.
52.
RossR. R.HilbornJ. (2008). Rehabilitating rehabilitation: Neurocriminology for treatment of antisocial behavior. Cognitive Center of Canada.
53.
RuckerL. (2015). Yoga and restorative justice in prison: An experience of “response-ability to harms.”Contemporary Justice Review, 8(1), 107–120.
54.
SampsonR. J.LaubJ. H. (1993). Crime in the making: Pathways and turning points through life. Harvard University Press.
55.
ShohamE.ZeligA.HasisiB.WeisburdD.HavivN. (2018). “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts”: Prison staff perceptions of domestic violence rehabilitation programs. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 62(11), 3298–3321.
56.
ShohamE.ZeligA.HesisiB.WeisburdD.HavivN. (2017). The “black box” behind prison-based vocational training programs. European Scientific Journal, 13(12), 432–443.
57.
SilvaF.HartneyC. (2012). Evaluation of the Insight Prison Project. National Council on Crime & Delinquency.
58.
WardT.MannR. E.GannonT. A. (2007). The good lives model of offender rehabilitation: Clinical implications. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 12(1), 87–107.
59.
WeisburdD.HasisiB.ShohamE.AvivG.HavivN. (2017). Reinforcing the impacts of work release on prisoner recidivism: The importance of integrative interventions. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 13(2), 241–264.
60.
WimberlyA. S.XueJ. (2016). A systematic review of yoga interventions in the incarcerated setting. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 43(4), 85–108.
61.
ZaraG.FarringtonD. P. (2015). Criminal recidivism: Explanation, prediction and prevention. Routledge.
