November 2023 Bonnie GrossenEvaluation Director   The effectiveness of the Mindful Kindness Program (MKP) was evaluated for its effectiveness in motivating incarcerated individuals to adopt a new way of living centered on the principles of kindness. MKP is a 12-step program based on the book How Love Wins (Carnine, 2020). To teach the “kindful” pathway to a happy life, the book uses exercises and specific examples of how kindness leads to happiness, of how meditation and mindfulness can help with self-control, and provides strategies for increasing kind habits and decreasing unkind habits. Given Covid restrictions, the original MKP delivery plan of group-facilitated delivery was retooled to provide a mail-in course where participants worked on their own, sending in their written responses to each step. However, no feedback was sent, only the material for the next step after receiving

October 2023 Bonnie Grossen, Christopher Loan Purpose: To assess a possible mechanism of action by which prisoners’ satisfaction with life may be influenced by two subscales of a modified Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale (1983). These mechanisms serve as key criminogenic and protective forces linked with deleterious consequences of incarceration and reoffending.   Methods: Data were collected from 234 prisoners from 34 correctional institutions in California who completed the “Mindful Kindness Program” over a 28-week period. Path analyses are used to trace how mindfulness practices impact satisfaction with life through dimensions of stress via positive and negative indicators of mental health.  Results: Higher knowledge about mindfulness techniques contributed to higher use of mindfulness practices. These practices increase positive indicators of mental health, which lead to greater

October, 2023 Ted McCuddy, Christopher M. Loan, Bonnie Grossen, & Doug Carnine Background: The high rate of recidivism within the United States demonstrates that rehabilitation, one of the goals of incarceration, has largely failed. Conditions within carceral settings increase stress and diminish satisfaction with life, two factors linked with offending.  Although mindfulness programs and kindness interventions have been shown to improve certain dimensions of mental health, less is known about their impact on satisfaction with life and how this compares to other positive and negative indicators of mental health.   Aims: To test the impact of the “Mindful Kindness Program—How Love Wins” (MKP) on incarcerated individuals’ mental ill-being, propensity for positive action, desire for relationships, anti-social tendencies, and knowledge of mindfulness techniques.   Methods: Data were

by Doug Carnine On paper, they don’t seem like the kind of people who would earn a reputation for spreading kindness.  Victor Praxidis is serving life without parole in Ironwood State Prison in California for murder. “I’m never going to get out” he says, “I don’t have a second chance to show the people outside that I’m willing to change, that I’m willing to be part of a community.  My kids, they deserved a loving father to be there for them. But I robbed them of all that. I hurt so many people with my actions.”  Michael Beaudette is a prisoner in San Quentin, “I’m in here doing 51 years to life for first degree murder,” he says, “so my outlook on life wasn’t exactly that great. I was coming into prison as a murderer, and I held onto that belief, once a murderer, always a murderer. Really, going ahead and oppressing people wasn't a problem for me.”  Frank Lopez, an inmate at the

By Shawn McWeeney December 2023 Story of Frank Lopez The Transformative Power of Mindful Kindness: Overcoming Barriers through Awareness, Empathy, and Right Action  One incarcerated individual whose life has been dramatically impacted by the Mindful Kindness Program is Frank Lopez. His journey from a life of violence to a life of empathy and right action serves as a powerful testament to the transformative potential of the Mindful Kindness Program. Through his participation in this program, Frank not only learned to cultivate mindfulness and empathy within himself but also how to translate these qualities into tangible acts of kindness towards others. Prior to finding the Mindful Kindness Program, Frank's life was marred by violence and aggression. Raised by a father who abused both him and his mother, Frank learned violence at an early age. Growing up in such an environment, Frank