A Gender-Responsive Treatment Facility in Correctional Services: The Development of Psychological Gymnasium for Women Offenders

• Author: W. L. Li,Samuel M. Y. Ho,Regina W. Y. Kwong,Vivian W. M. Mak
• Date: 01 March 2018
• Published date: 01 March 2018
• DOI: 10.1177/0306624X16667572
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X16667572

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2018, Vol. 62(4) 1062 –1079

© The Author(s) 2016

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DOI: 10.1177/0306624X16667572

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Article

A Gender-Responsive

Treatment Facility in

Correctional Services: The

Development of

Psychological Gymnasium

for Women Offenders

Vivian W. M. Mak1, Samuel M. Y. Ho2,

Regina W. Y. Kwong1, and W. L. Li1

Abstract

With increasing evidence suggesting a disparity in female and male offenders in terms

of rehabilitative needs, growing concern has been placed on the development of

gender-specific services for female offenders. As such, a prison-based psychological

gymnasium (PSY GYM), with distinctive features in integrating cognitive-behavioral

and positive-psychology concepts to address female offenders’ needs, was set up in

2011. The present study aims to introduce the concept as well as present findings to

evaluate the overall effectiveness of PSY GYM. Nineteen Chinese female offenders

participated in a 6- to 8-month intensive training program at the Lo Wu Correctional

Institution (LWCI) of the Hong Kong Correctional Services Department in Hong

Kong. Psychometric inventories were used to assess their psychological distress and

positive growth following the program. Participants showed significant reduction in

their depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, and in their tendency to pay attention

to negative information. Furthermore, their sense of hope, gratitude, and tendency

to pay attention to positive information had remarkably increased. This indicated the

effectiveness of PSY GYM in facilitating successful rehabilitation for female offenders.

1Hong Kong Correctional Services, Hong Kong

2City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Corresponding Author:

Vivian W. M. Mak, Clinical Psychologist, Hong Kong Correctional Services, The Government of the Hong

Kong Special Administrative Region, Correctional Services Department Headquarters, Wanchai Tower,

12 Harbour Road, Hong Kong.

Email: mak_vivian_wm@csd.gov.hk

667572IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X16667572International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyMak et al.

research-article2016

Mak et al. 1063

Keywords

PSY GYM, psychological gymnasium, rehabilitation, female offenders, prison, cognitive-

behavioral therapy, positive psychology, psychotherapy

Introduction

In 2015, the World Female Imprisonment List showed that female prisoners generally

constitute between 2% and 9% of the total prison population across the world (Walmsley,

2015). There were only 18 penal institutions having a higher percentage, with Hong

Kong the second highest (19.4%) in the world. The incarceration rate of females in

Hong Kong has continued to grow over the last few decades; between 1986 and 2014,

the female prison population increased by 241.53%, during which time male imprison-

ment dropped by 17.70% (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 2015).

Despite the rapid growth of the female prison population, psychological treat-

ments customized for female offenders are limited. Most prison-based interventions

have been designed based on studies of male offenders in correctional settings

(Kurten-Vartio, 2007; Lewis, 2006). However, studies on female offenders indicated

that they have different psychological needs from male prisoners (e.g., Loper,

Carlson, Levitt, & Scheffel, 2009; Salisbury & Van Voorhis, 2009; Sherman, 2001).

For example, Salisbury and Van Voorhis (2009) summarized the gender-specific risk

factors of incarcerated women: (a) abuse and traumatic experience, (b) serious men-

tal health problem(s), (c) self-regulating problem(s) with substance abuse, (d) dys-

functional and abusive intimate relationships, and (e) parenting stress. Loper et al.

(2009) reported that female prisoners had greater child care responsibilities than

their male counterparts prior to incarceration. The study also revealed a significant

association between parenting stress and depressive symptoms among female

offenders but not male offenders.

Another gender-specific need in female offenders is mental health problems (James

& Glaze, 2006). An Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2013) study revealed

that the proportion of female offenders (43%) who reported ever having a mental

health disorder, including depression, anxiety, substance use disorders, personality

disorders, and psychoses, was larger than that of male offenders (37%). Similar results

were also found in the United Kingdom by The Offender Health Research Network

(2010), which showed that at a specific period of time, the percentage of female

offenders who had clinically significant symptoms of suicidality (16% vs. 8%) or clin-

ically significant hallucinations (9% vs. 4%) was double that of male offenders.

Furthermore, the rates of co-occurring diagnoses, such as depression and substance

abuse, for female offenders were nearly 4 times the rates for male offenders (Blume,

1997). It was proposed that adjustment to incarceration requires emotional overcontrol

and social isolation to prevent being victimized or exploited, and this difficult and

stressful process may lead to adverse psychological consequences (Haney, 2003). The

higher prevalence of mental illness among female offenders would make them more

likely to experience difficulty in adjusting to incarceration as compared with their

male counterparts.