Can Yoga Overcome Criminality? The Impact of Yoga on Recidivism in Israeli Prisons
| Author | Ety Elisha,Badi Hasisi,Noam Haviv,Shaked Kovalsky |
| Date | 01 October 2020 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0306624X20911899 |
| Published date | 01 October 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
research-article2020
Article
International Journal of
Offender Therapy and
Can Yoga Overcome
Comparative Criminology
2020, Vol. 64(13-14) 1461 –1481
Criminality? The Impact of
© The Author(s) 2020
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
Yoga on Recidivism in Israeli https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X20911899
DOI: 10.1177/0306624X20911899
journals.sagepub.com/home/ijo
Prisons
Shaked Kovalsky1, Badi Hasisi1, Noam Haviv2 ,
and Ety Elisha3
Abstract
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.
Keywords
yoga, prison, prisoners, rehabilitation, positive criminology
1The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
2The Ashkelon Academic College, Israel
3The Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, Israel
Corresponding Author:
Ety Elisha, Department of Criminology, The Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, Israel.
Email: etye@yvc.ac.il
1462 International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 64(13-14)
Introduction
Returning to incarceration is an enduring problem in many countries. For example, in
the United States, 45% of released prisoners between the years 2005 and 2010 were
reincarcerated within 5 years after their release (Fazel & Wolf, 2015; Pew Center on
the States, 2011). Similarly, data of the Israel Prison Service (IPS) reveal that 41.3%
of prisoners in the country return to prison within 5 years of their release (Berman &
Walk, 2015). These high recidivism rates indicate the existence of a recurring prob-
lematic pattern that entails high social and economic costs (MacKenzie, 2006; Zara &
Farrington, 2015).
As part of an attempt to address this recidivism issue, together with the growing
emphasis on prisoner rights, prisons in the Western world offer a variety of rehabilita-
tion programs aimed at assisting people who are incarcerated and ex-prisoners with
recovery and reintegration into society through the acquisition of certain life skills
(Andrews et al., 1990, 2011; Enosh et al., 2013; Lipsey & Cullen, 2007; MacKenzie,
2006; McGuire, 2003; Shoham et al., 2017, 2018). The objectives of such programs
include, inter alia, changing prisoners’ state of mind, reducing risk factors in their
lives, and developing prosocial skills, which, in turn, are designed to reduce and stop
antisocial behaviors (Ross, 1980; Ross & Hilborn, 2008).
In addition, in recent years, the criminological discourse has brought into focus
various rehabilitative theories and approaches from positive perspectives such as
desistance from crime (Maruna, 2001; Sampson & Laub, 1993), reintegrative sham-
ing, and restorative justice (Braithwaite, 2001). These approaches were recently tied
together under the definition of “positive criminology” (Ronel & Elisha, 2011), plac-
ing the emphasis on the personal and social strengths, increasing the degree to which
individuals can embrace the prosocial lifestyle and avoid criminality.
Yoga practice, which can be viewed as one aspect in the above positive criminology
approach, is now offered in some prisons and considered as an informal rehabilitative
alternative or addition (Karup & Hall, 2016; Muirhead & Fortune, 2016). It should be
emphasized, however, that there are many different types of yoga practiced, meaning
that the practice is not always consistent. Yet, very few controlled studies have been
conducted to examine the impact of yoga practicing in prison and the reduction of
recidivism, some of whom suffer methodological flows, as detailed bellow.
The present study aims to fill this void and assess the effectiveness of yoga pro-
grams using a quasi-experimental design and a wide sample, by taking into consid-
eration a wide range of variables to better understand the influence of yoga programs
on recidivism, and by extending the monitoring period for released prisoners to 5
years, which allows for the comparison with other studies in the field. The purpose
of the present study was to examine the correlation between yoga practice and recid-
ivism among prisoners released from the IPS who participated in yoga during incar-
ceration as compared with a matched control group of non–yoga-participating
released prisoners over a follow-up period of 5 years after discharge from prison.
The hypothesis of the present study is that practicing yoga has positive ongoing
effects on prisoners’ lives, which assist in their rehabilitation program and thereby
reduce recidivism rates.
Kovalsky et al.
1463
Rehabilitation Programs From the Positive Criminology Perspective
Positive criminology focuses on enhancing offenders’ personal and social strengths
and the factors that promote successful rehabilitation and reintegration into the com-
munity (Ronel & Elisha, 2011), underscoring the importance of holistic rehabilitation
in addressing the various dimensions of life. Holistic rehabilitation deals with improv-
ing and developing offenders’ physical, emotional, and mental health as well as their
interpersonal relationships in an effort to assist them with refraining from engaging in
further criminal activity (Ronel et al., 2013). Positive criminology also emphasizes the
positive effects of informal rehabilitative programs that underscore the development
of personal and interpersonal strengths such as sports and yoga (Barrett, 2017; Guse &
Hudson, 2014; Kewley, 2017; Ronel & Segev, 2014; Ward et al., 2007).
Yoga can be viewed as a positive informal practice combining several aspects such
as postures, breathing techniques, relaxation techniques, and meditation (Bilderbeck
et al., 2013; Chiesa & Serretti, 2009) that aim to provide individuals with the opportu-
nity to connect their bodies and souls, reflect upon their lives, and be introspective
(Norman, 2015). Yoga is viewed as a positive tool for personal and human growth as
well as a holistic path that facilitates practitioners’ self-awareness and understanding
(Karup & Hall, 2016).
Yoga From the Positive Criminology Perspective
Interest in the practice of yoga has developed rapidly in recent years. As of 2015,
13.2% of the U.S. population engages in yoga (Cramer et al., 2016), a substantial
increase when compared with the only 6% reported to be practicing yoga in 2007
(Barnes et al., 2008). These findings attest to yoga’s growing popularity and the rise in
overall awareness of this practice in the Western world as well as in the literature
(Bilderbeck et al., 2013; Norman, 2015).
Moreover, from the perspective of positive criminology, yoga has had several reha-
bilitative advantages manifest, inter alia, in the development of interpersonal integra-
tion, understanding and interpreting daily occurrences from a spiritual outlook, and
embracing humane and prosocial views and norms, all of which may assist offenders
through their rehabilitation process (Ronel & Ben Yair, 2018).
Studies have shown that the inmate population typically exhibits many disorders
(e.g., anxiety, depression, impulsiveness) along with risky behaviors at higher rates as
compared with in the normative population (Auty et al., 2015; Muirhead & Fortune,
2016). Yoga addresses many of these problems and can, therefore, serve as both a
complementary factor and possibly a positive alternative to the existing rehabilitation
programs (Auty et al., 2015; Muirhead & Fortune, 2016; Ronel & Ben Yair, 2018;
Wimberly & Xue, 2016).
Rehabilitating Prisoners Through Yoga
Some prison yoga programs are operated by the prison staff, whereas others are man-
aged by community yoga organizations that run the program in the prison using
1464 International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 64(13-14)
volunteers or by prison-specific yoga organizations such as the Insight Prison Project
(Norman, 2015; Silva & Hartney, 2012). Most prison yoga programs offer weekly
sessions, during which time, prisoners learn a series of yoga postures and relaxing
breathing techniques aiming to calm and ease their pressures as well as the pain associ-
ated with incarceration. During the meetings, inmates are encouraged to pay...
To continue reading
Request your trial