Positive criminology

Positive criminology is a conceptual approach to criminology that places an emphasis on social inclusion and on forces at individual, group, social and spiritual levels that are associated with the limiting of crime. Parallel to positive psychology, it is intended as positive and integrative. Positive criminology was developed by Natti Ronel and his research team at Bar-Ilan University in Israel.

Traditional approaches to criminology emphasize the negative aspects in people's lives that are associated with deviance and criminality. A common understanding is that human relationships are affected more by destructive encounters than by constructive or positive ones. Positive criminology argues that a different approach is viable, based on three dimensions – social integration, emotional healing and spirituality – that constitute positive direction indicators.

Background

Positive criminology was developed by Natti Ronel and his research team at the Department of Criminology in Bar-Ilan University, Israel. It grew out of criminological theories that emphasize the dominant role of "the bad" in criminology: neglect; social rejection and alienation; association with a strong criminal influence; reaction to social strain; lack of self-control; past trauma and conditions of risk and criminal careers. Positive criminology argues that the power of "the negative" in solving crime and its outcomes is partial and temporary. The main goal of positive criminology is to highlight and enhance the study and adoption of "positive components" (e.g., acceptance, compassion, encouragement, faith, forgiveness, goodness, gratitude, humor, positive modeling, spirituality) with individuals and groups participating in prevention, rehabilitation, and recovery programs. It is anticipated that this focus might, in turn, lead those individuals to develop similar positive qualities and thereby increase their chances of turning their lives around, for the benefit of themselves and the whole society. Overall, positive criminology seeks to strengthen the unifying force between offenders and members of the normative community rather than emphasize, or privilege, the separating forces of law-enforcement (e.g., imprisonment, exclusion, shaming).

Essence

Positive criminology is a perspective associated with different theories and models that refer to integrative influences which share two common features: first, they are commonly considered as good and experienced by targeted individuals as positive, and second, they may assist these individuals in refraining from criminal or deviant behavior. The first feature also appears in positive psychology. A fundamental postulate of positive psychology is that positive experiences are not secondary to negative processes and they might have a lasting impact on helping people to refrain from engaging in criminal conduct. In the positive criminology context, crime resistance is a desired outcome of positive experiences. Positive criminology acknowledges the ability of offenders and ex-convicts to be reformed and rehabilitated under certain circumstances, and highlights the importance of positive, humanistic encounters for any effective rehabilitation process. Positive criminology holds for various resources and means to attain this wished goal, some are directly psychological by nature (as positive psychology indicates) but others represent other-than psychological spheres and issues (e.g., law-enforcement issues, sociological processes).

Positive criminology concentrates on disturbed individuals and groups, who often report experiencing challenging and adverse backgrounds. These developmental factors include exposure to a wide range of negative experiences. It is suggested that it is helpful to take into account the complexity of offenders in terms of their personal, environmental, and cultural characteristics, including their strengths and potential for personal, social and spiritual growth. Positive criminology conceptualizes risk factors as containing the potential for growth and development, rather than simply as indicators of vulnerability and destruction. Studies associated with a positive criminological perspective; have found that several personal strengths are evident among different types of rehabilitated offenders, for example, taking personal responsibility, finding new meaning for their lives, and maturation. These findings are in addition to variables such as obtaining external assistance (e.g., family, treatment, voluntary support groups such as NA, religious organizations). These studies, and others, emphasize the importance of attending to positive human strengths following risk and crisis events, in order to achieve higher levels of well-being and positive growth.

The inclusion, integration and unification vectors are central to positive criminology and in effect indicate its positive direction. An individual, who is involved in criminal activity that causes harm to others or to him or herself, usually exhibits an increased degree of self-centeredness. The higher the involvement in criminality and deviant behavior, the more expanded the self-centeredness. Self-centeredness contains a sense of existential separation from others in which others are experienced as object-like, to the point of loneliness and social, existential and spiritual alienation. Being together with a peer group of alike individuals (e.g., a gang), does not reduce the sense of existential separation from Humanity at large. On the other hand, individuals may choose to be isolated from society without being existentially separated (e.g., spiritual hermits). Therefore, the separation–unification vector is a basic one in understanding criminality and rehabilitation, where overcoming separation and moving towards unification represents positive progress. It designates an additional meaning to the term "positive criminology", that is, the criminology of integration, inclusion and unification. On the social dimension, the movement towards social inclusion represents the positive vector, and it is at times the first source of transformation. It marks an initial reduction in self-centeredness and alienation. Consequently, the direction of an existential integration of the self within Humanity, where others are less object-like and there is a construction of an integrative consciousness center of pro-social norms, is another dimension of a positive unification that denotes a reduced self-centeredness. Finally, the direction towards unification with a spiritual power greater than the self represents the positive vector in the spiritual dimension.

Goals

Positive criminology was created in response to the negative effects of criminological literature that reinforce delinquency. Positive criminology aims to broaden our understanding beyond the usual focus of criminology on separating, excluding, and disintegrating forces and processes that lead individuals and groups to embrace deviant and criminal lifestyles and activities. It studies individual and group encounters with external influences that are simultaneously:

1. experienced as positive and integrative (parallel to positive psychology);
2. assisting them to resist and desist from engaging in deviant activities and crime (an innovative emphasis of positive criminology) by various means of formal or informal interventions (e.g., therapy, self-help group, social acceptance, faith, goodness, altruism, reintegrative shaming).

Positive criminology is a new concept that represents the flip side of the purely negative reaction to crime, that is, it explicitly focuses on positive experiences of "the good" that may assist individuals, groups, and communities in shifting away from criminality and its consequent infliction of harm, pain and suffering. This perspective is oriented to human strengths and positive encounters that may assist offenders to desist from crime and deviant behaviors. It balances the excessive negative targeting of the traditional criminological field, through emphasizing positively experienced aspects in the context of criminology. Positive criminology places an emphasis on social inclusion and on unifying and integrating forces at individual, group, social and spiritual dimensions. Positive criminology reinforces the need to study and processing of "positive elements" (as compassion, love, forgiveness, social acceptance, human kindness, gratitude, altruism).

Theories and approaches

Reintegrative shaming

A central theory included in the positive criminology perspective is Braithwaite's (1989) reintegrative shaming, which calls for a clear distinction to be made between an individual's personal identity and his or her actions. Reintegrative shaming, partially implemented as rehabilitative practice, is based on the idea that rehabilitative interventions may be most effective when they include condemnation of the offense (shaming), along with the perpetrator's reacceptance by the community (reintegration). In contrast, disintegrative shaming occurs when the offender is functionally excluded from society after completing his or her sentence; in fact, the ex-convict is rejected by society and negatively labeled. The distinction between a person's identity and behavior, which allows for self-correction and social rehabilitation, can be found in spiritual and religious traditions such as Judaism, Christianity and Zen, and more recently, in twelve-step programs for addicts, humanistic approaches and in the contemporary positive psychology.

Criminology as peacemaking

Main article: Peacemaking criminology

Despite the progress in criminological knowledge and understanding, the rate of offenders and prisoners around the world has not decreased significantly in recent years, and in fact, has actually increased. Peacemaking criminology explains this tendency by the prevalence of a retributive approach by law enforcement systems. Peacemaking criminology calls for an alternative characterized by love and compassion. Accordingly, a reduction in human suffering is thought to reduce crime. It is a philosophical approach to crime and justice that combines a spiritual perception and the traditions of existentialism, Buddhism, pacifism, and socialism (Barak, 2005). Scholars holding this perspective suggest the use of positive humanistic tools such as mediation, problem solving, and mutual help instead of forced punishment, such as deterrence, penalties, retribution, or revenge. In their view, violent or aggressive responses to offending, motivated by anger and the desire for retaliation, usually associate with feelings of alienation, humiliation, and shame. Peacemaking criminology attempts to reduce violence and crime by adopting positive criminological elements such as mutual help, contributing to the community (altruism), and restorative justice. This approach is based on the perception that peace and social justice can be obtained only when the social, economic, and political structure in which we live changes, so that the restoration of relations based on humanistic values replaces punishment, ostracism, and stigmatization.

Restorative justice

Main article: Restorative justice

Restorative justice practices are based on non punitive approaches to conflict resolutions, problem-solving and violations of legal and human rights. Restorative justice promotes reunion of those who are harmed, the wrongdoers and their affected communities in search of solutions that promote repair, reconciliation and the rebuilding of relationships. Healing is crucial not just for victims, but also for offenders. Both the rehabilitation of offenders and their integration into the community are vital aspects of restorative justice. Offenders are treated respectfully and their needs are addressed. Removing them from the community, or imposing any other severe restrictions, is a last resort. It is thought that the best way to prevent re-offending is re-integration. The practices of restorative justice represent the conceptual perspective of positive criminology that emphasizes the potential of positive, humanistic encounters for rehabilitation process, and acknowledges the ability of offenders and ex-convicts to be reformed and rehabilitated.

The programs included in the practice of restorative justice, such as victim-offender mediation, conferencing and circles, are characterized by four key values:

1. Encounter. Create opportunities for victims, offenders and interested community members, to meet and discuss the crime and its aftermath.
2. Amends. Expect offenders to take steps to repair the harm they have caused.
3. Reintegration. Seek to reintegrate victims and offenders to the whole, to be contributing members of society.
4. Inclusion. Provide opportunities for parties with a stake in a specific crime to participate in its resolution.

Desistance from crime

A focus on desistance from crime emerged from the works of Shadd Maruna, John Laub and many others. Desistance research focuses on individuals rather than on programs, and on offenders own accounts rather than merely on official statistics. Desistance is defined as the process of abstaining from crime among those who previously had engaged in a sustained pattern of offending. It is understood that individuals usually do not "quit crime" by making a decision and walking away in the same way they might resign from employment. Due to various reasons, including the stigma of having a criminal record, the cycle of crime and punishment can become a repetitive loop that is difficult to escape from. A better metaphor for desisting from crime is recovery from an addictive behavior such as gambling or substance use. Desistance from crime will probably involve some false stops and starts, sometimes called "relapses".

The desistance literature has also inspired an applied school of thought, sometimes known as the "desistance paradigm" or "desistance-focused practice" (see especially the work of Fergus McNeill and Stephen Farrall). Farrall (2004) distinguishes 'desistance-focused' perspectives from 'offending-related' approaches on the basis that whereas the latter concentrates on targeting or correcting offender deficits, the former seeks to promote those things thought to be associated with desistance (such as strong social bonds, pro-social involvements and social capital). Others have argued for a shift from 'deficit-based' interventions (focusing on risk factors and 'needs' as defined by the experts) to 'strengths-based' approaches that seek to promote 'good lives' as defined by the person him or herself.

Until recently, desistance research has been more interested in how offenders give up crime in their own way, rather than how interventions can help them give up. Desistance research has not, as said, given much attention to the role of programs, but few desisters say that programs were part of what helped them give up offending. However, many modern correctional interventions have a strong evidence base, and they could be seen as "assisting desistance" by helping to develop the internal mindsets that are important to desistance. It has also been said that programs can help desistance by offering a "blueprint" for change. But the desistance research suggests that just doing a program won't be enough without also paying attention to the important external desistance factors. In addition, interventions that label, that penalize and that exclude are likely to pose problems for and create obstacles in desistance pathways, impeding successful integration.

Desistance research makes clear that offenders are heterogeneous, their needs are complex and their pathways to desistance are individualized. Having this in mind, the desistance literature offers several suggestions for intervention with desisters that might increase the chances for prolonged desistance. These suggestions are represent the positive criminology perspective: focus on strong and meaningful relationships; give strong optimistic messages and avoid labeling; focus on strengths and not just on risks; recognize and mark achievements towards desistance; make practical assistance the priority; work with parents and partners; work with support communities.

Recovery

According to the WHO definition of Health from 1946 that remains the most enduring, "[H]ealth is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." The literature on recovery, that originated in the addiction field but might be expanded to any domain in criminology, as positive criminology suggests, actually follows this definition to fully present a recovery from criminality. Accordingly, the process of recovery from criminality is not only reaching an abstinence from criminal conduct (which is an initial condition of the recovery process), but also getting closer into physical, mental and social well-being with a spiritual evolution.

The phrase "recovery-oriented systems of care" refers to the complete network of indigenous and professional services and relationships that can support the long-term recovery of individuals and families and the creation of values and policies in the larger cultural and policy environment that are supportive of these recovery processes. In the addiction field, recovery advocates allege that treatment has become detached from the larger and more enduring process of recovery and that they see no references to recovery in the statements of mission, vision, and core values of addiction treatment programs.

The best predictor of the likelihood of sustained recovery is the extent of 'recovery capital' or the personal and psychological resources a person has, the social supports that are available to them and the basic foundations of life quality, i.e. a safe place to live, meaningful activities and a role in their community (however this is defined). Barriers to recovery include psychological problems (mental illnesses and the absence of strengths, such as self-esteem and self-efficacy), significant physical morbidities (including blood borne viruses), social isolation and ongoing chaotic substance use. While structured treatment has a key role to play, it is only part of the support that most people will need. Ongoing support in the community is essential for the ongoing recovery journey and often includes mutual aid and other peer support. Recovery is not just about the individual, but impacts on families and communities. Long-term recovery is altering the complex relationships between individuals and the multiple layers of the ecosystem in which individuals and families are nested. As such, all layers of this ecosystem are targets of recovery-focused interventions. Recovery can be initiated in an artificial environment, but recovery stabilization and successful recovery maintenance can be achieved only in a natural community environment.

Treatment and rehabilitation

Strength-based treatment programs

In recent years, various programs have been developed in the field of rehabilitation of offenders, in community and prison, based on the principles of cognitive-behavioral approach, usually implemented in a group setting. These programs are considered a form of strength-based treatment, due to the emphasis on personal, interpersonal and social skills developed that enable participants to acquire pro-social lifestyle, which may also reduce their need for deviant behaviors. The assumption underlying these programs is that those who work on acquisition of new positive skills, rather than just avoidance from negative behaviors, will achieve better results and be able to maintain the positive outcomes for the long run. Recent studies indicated their effectiveness in reducing recidivism amongst released offenders.

The Good Lives Model of rehabilitation

The Good Lives Model (GLM), first proposed by Ward and Stewart and further developed by Ward and colleagues, is a strengths-based approach to offender rehabilitation. It is a strength-based rehabilitation theory because it is responsive to offenders' particular interests, abilities, and aspirations. It also directs practitioners to explicitly construct intervention plans that help offenders to acquire the capabilities to achieve the things that are personally meaningful to them. It assumes that all individuals have similar aspirations and needs and that one of the primary responsibilities of parents, teachers, and the broader community is to help each of us acquire the tools required to make our own way in the world. Criminal behavior results when individuals lack the internal and external resources necessary to satisfy their values using pro-social means, or where a single aspiration or need is valued exclusively over all other aspirations or needs. In other words, criminal behavior represents a maladaptive attempt to meet life values, or a singular focus on one specific life value. Thus, offenders, like all humans, value certain states of mind, personal characteristics, and experiences, which are defined in the GLM as primary goods. Following an extensive review of psychological, social, biological, and anthropological research, Ward and colleagues proposed eleven classes of primary goods: (1) life (including healthy living and functioning), (2) knowledge, (3) excellence in play, (4) excellence in work (including mastery experiences), (5) excellence in agency (i.e., autonomy and self-directedness), (6) inner peace (i.e., freedom from emotional turmoil and stress), (7) friendship (including intimate, romantic, and family relationships), (8) community, (9) spirituality (in the broad sense of finding meaning and purpose in life), (10) happiness, and (11) creativity. Whilst it is assumed that all humans seek out all the primary goods to some degree, the weightings or priorities given to specific primary goods reflect an offender's values and life priorities. Moreover, the existence of a number of practical identities, based on, for example, family roles (e.g., parent), work (e.g., psychologist), and leisure (e.g., rugby player) mean that an individual might draw on different value sources in different contexts, depending on the normative values underpinning each practical identity. Instrumental goods, or secondary goods, provide concrete means of securing primary goods and take the form of approach goals. For example, completing an apprenticeship might satisfy the primary goods of knowledge and excellence in work, whereas joining an adult sports team or cultural club might satisfy the primary good of friendship. Such activities are incompatible with dynamic risk factors, meaning that avoidance goals are indirectly targeted through the GLM's focus on approach goals. Rehabilitation endeavors should therefore equip offenders with the knowledge, skills, opportunities, and resources necessary to satisfy their life values in ways that don't harm others. Inherent in its focus on an offender's life values, the GLM places a strong emphasis on offender agency. That is, offenders, like the rest of us, actively seek to satisfy their life values through whatever means available to them. The GLM's dual attention to an offender's internal values and life priorities and external factors such as resources and opportunities give it practical utility in desistance-oriented interventions.

Existential therapy

Main article: Existential therapy

Existential therapy in the context of criminology asserts that in the root of offenders' experience usually lies an existential inner void or an insatiable gorge, which represents, inter alia, a separation and isolation from others (Shoham & Addad, 2004). In accord with positive criminology, recovery is achieved by a movement towards the other, with an integration and unification force. Existentialism also decrees that in order to reach authenticity an individual has to extricate oneself from the fetters of the generalized other, and that life priorities should not be arranged according to the expectations of others, but according to the inner self and the discovery of the potentials of revelation and creativity inherent within this inner self. The existentialist treatment is designed first of all to help the client discover the inner authentic existence and to counter with this inner authenticity the outward hardships and threats. Therefore, the stages of existentialist therapy are (1) to discard the tendency to comply with social norms without examining their adequacy in order for the realization of the potential of the client to discover the capacity for revelation and creativity; (2) for the client to extricate herself/ himself from the positive feedback of the surroundings to succeed at all costs. The client has to realize that I-It relationship with the surroundings will never let one go out of the fetters of the generalized other. Hence she or he has to strive to reach an I-Thou (Following Buber) relationship with the surroundings and relevant others. An individual has to realize that while being thrown into the world, in the words of Heidegger, with anxiety and dread, he or she is imbued with initial pain, but then this pain can be sublimated into creativity, with depth and inner meaning.

Self-help groups and the 12-step program

One of the most popular approaches in the Western world for self-change in the field of addiction is that of the twelve-step program. Self-help groups in general, and in particular the twelve-step programs, which emphasize spiritual and moral change, represent another aspect of positive criminology. The groups serve as a place for learning and practicing new behavior and values, alongside spiritual development. Research conducted among addicts who participated in the twelve-step program and the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) self- and mutual-help groups has identified several therapeutic elements that helped addicts in the recovery process, including change in their perception of life and finding new and noble meaning to life, spiritual awakening through faith in a higher power that helps them to abstain from psychoactive substances, transformation of anger and resentment into forgiveness, and sponsoring another person in the recovery process. According to Ronel (1998), self-help organizations such as NA constitute a bridge to recovery, connecting the drug subculture to the general dominant culture.

The twelve-step program originated in AA and was then adopted by other self-help organizations that target a variety of problems, such as drug addiction (NA), eating disorders (Overeaters Anonymous [OA]), emotional disturbance (Emotions Anonymous [EA]), and others. Since its inception, the twelve-step program has caught the attention of professionals as a possible expert approach of therapy, first limited to addiction and later extended into other fields, such as domestic violence or victims' assistance, as well. It could, therefore, be perceived as being a general, professional treatment method and program for recovery, also known as Grace Therapy. In a professional setting, the 12 steps may be adapted to the changing needs of the participants. The program emphasizes the spiritual nature of change and recovery as a continuous process and as a way of life.

Positive victimology

The concept of positive victimology evolved from positive criminology and it was first proposed by Natti Ronel and his research team. Positive victimology's focus is on those who were hurt by crime and/or abuse of power. Victimology aims to prevent secondary victimization of crime victims, while positive victimology suggests an additional focus on social response. Similar to positive victimology it must meet three criteria:

1. Social response to the victims' attempts to strengthen their integration at three levels – interpersonal, mental and spiritual.
2. Social response is experienced as positive by the victims.
3. Social response not only prevents further victimization but will be one that enables the healing and personal, social and spiritual growth of the victims despite the harm they experienced.

Positive criminology studies

Social acceptance and life transformation in the rehabilitation of imprisoned sex offenders

This research was the first that was designed and conducted according to the principles of positive criminology. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify the internal and external factors that assist imprisoned sex offenders to recover and change their way of life. Most participants reported that they had experienced personal and social changes during their current imprisonment, attributed to the support they received from various sources both inside and outside the jail, particularly spouses, parents, therapists, and religious figures. Participants reported that those who supported them expressed their social acceptance of them; note that this does not refer to unconditional acceptance, but one that requires taking responsibility and making a significant change by the side of the offender. It might be referred as conditioned love, where the conditions are for the benefits of the loved ones. It contains components similar to those included in the re-integrative shaming mechanism. Research findings also suggest that positive changes can be achieved even under harsh conditions such as imprisonment, through the encounter with human strengths. In a way that continues these findings, Siebrecht Vanhooren, Mia Leijssen, and Jessie Dezutter from the Department of Psychology, University of Leuven, Belgium, conducted a pilot study with a mixed-method design on posttraumatic growth and psychological stress in a sample of sexual offenders (n = 30) in ongoing therapy. The results affirmed the hypothesis that posttraumatic growth is negatively associated with psychological stress. A phenomenological analysis identified themes in the participants' reflections on posttraumatic growth. It was found that prison experiences forced the participants to change. Prisoners experience emotional support from others during incarceration as crucial to positive change. Taking responsibility for the crime helped them engage in the therapy more fully and resulted in more posttraumatic growth.

The impact of volunteers on those they help

Several studies examined the impact of a personal encounter with perceived goodness, as represented by volunteers who are perceived as altruistic by those they help. The studies focused on the encounter between lay volunteers and either: (1) at-risk street youths in a mobile outreach service (a qualitative study), (2) at-risk youth in drop-in centers for youth at-risk in Israel (a qualitative and quantitative study) and (3) two experiments carried out by Niek Hoogervorst, Judith Metz, Lonneke Roza, and Eva van Baren from the Netherlands that support this indirect effect of volunteerism on affect-based trust. The results of these different studies by different researchers were consistent and show that it was important for beneficiaries to be served by volunteers , since they perceived volunteers as true altruists, were satisfied to the degree of preferring their services over that of paid workers, and were positively affected by the encounter with volunteering. Meeting the volunteers raised their awareness of giving without expecting a reward, which sharply contradicts their view of the world as a battlefield. In some cases, the example set by the volunteers inspired the young people to consider volunteering themselves. Finally, they were able to generalize the altruistic image to the entire service and overcome their initial objections to a service run by the establishment. Volunteers set a living example of the possibility of human goodness via personal encounters and demonstrated the existence of a responsive society with mutual, unconditional caring. The proposed explanation refers to the contrast between the example of the volunteers and the self-centeredness of at-risk youths, which shifted slightly as a result. These results exhibit practical implications for innovative interventions with youth at-risk and illustrate the significance of the science of goodness.

Altruism and changing way of life among young offenders

Many philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche and Spinoza, already discussed the importance of using positive human components for creating a better human society. They also argued that the ability for human kindness is not predetermined but can be changed by external interventions, such as through exposing the individual to positive encounters that may lead to appropriate changes in the person and the surroundings. A study carried out by Tahel Uzan (2009) was conducted on young offenders in Israel, who participated in volunteer activity of helping needy persons in the community. It was found that participants perceived this activity as most significant, leading to a process of introspection which included a decision to change their way of life. It seems that participation in altruistic activities develops and strengthens internal virtues (e.g., responsibility, caring for others, goodness), that motivate the offenders to adopt pro-social attitudes and behaviors.

Making people happy is the best crime prevention

Positive criminology stresses the healing effect of positively perceived experiences. During the last years there is an increase in research on happiness, understood as a subjective perception of well-being, and it seems it is finding its place in criminology research as well. Vesna Nikolic-Ristanovic from the University of Belgrade, Serbia, summarized this body of research and accordingly, existing research on happiness and crime may be classified into three main groups of happiness and crime relationships:

1. Happiness and victimization/fear of crime: the impact of fear of crime and victimization on happiness; the impact of happiness on vulnerability, i.e. do happy people become victims less often than unhappy people and why?
2. Happiness and offending (for example: Do happy people commit crimes, or do people commit crimes in order to achieve happiness?
3. The impact of penalties/incarceration on happiness and desistance from crime (for example: Do penalties, including incarceration, affect offenders' happiness and does making people happy through prison programmes reduce their risk of reoffending?)

The conclusion of these studies, that confirms positive criminology basic assumptions is that making people happy is the best crime prevention and, thus, the best response to crime – at least, for those who can still change and become happier.

Psychological strengths and posttraumatic growth in the successful reintegration of South African ex-offenders

Positive criminology associates social integration with rehabilitation and with human strengths. Tharina Guse and Daphne Hudson, from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, focused in their study (2014) on the possible presence of psychological strengths and posttraumatic growth in the life stories of ex-offenders who desisted returning to crime. At the background of the study stands the very high recidivism rate of released prisoners in South Africa and the lack of knowledge concerning positive psychological factors that may facilitate successful reentry of ex-offenders in the South African context. In an exploratory qualitative study, the authors interviewed three adult male ex-offenders who had successfully reintegrated into society, focusing on their life stories. Several psychological strengths, including hope, gratitude, and spirituality, were evident in the life stories of the participants. Furthermore, they seemed to experience a sense of posttraumatic growth, albeit the traumatic experience while being incarcerated.

Mindfulness and rehabilitation: teaching yoga and meditation to young men in an alternative to incarceration program

Positive criminology looks for integrative means of rehabilitation, as an alternative to the disintegrative nature of incarceration. In a qualitative study, Carla Barret from John Jay College, New York, attempted to understand how young male participants benefited from yoga and mindfulness training within an Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) program. Findings suggest that the 10 male participants (age 18–24 years) experienced reductions in stress and improvements in emotion regulation. The young men were able to integrate the teachings of mindfulness practices into their often stressed and strained lives in ways that may help foster desistance. Several participants noted the importance of the development of an embodied practice for assisting them in managing anger and impulse control. The young men's narratives suggest that mindfulness-based interventions can contribute positively to rehabilitative outcomes within alternative to incarcerations settings, providing complementary benefit to existing ATI programs, especially for clients amenable to mindfulness training.

Angola's Christian seminary as positive criminology

Michael Hallett and colleagues presented an ethnographic account of the "self-projects" of inmate graduates of Louisiana State Penitentiary's ("Angola's") unique prison seminary program. Angola's Inmate Minister program deploys seminary graduates in bivocational pastoral service roles throughout America's largest maximum-security prison. Drawing upon the unique history of Angola, inmates establish their own churches and serve in lay-ministry capacities in hospice, cellblock visitation, tier ministry, officiating inmate funerals, and through tithing with "care packages" for indigent prisoners. Four themes of positive criminology prominently emerge from inmate narratives: (a) the importance of respectful treatment of inmates by correctional administrations, (b) the value of building trusting relationships for prosocial modeling and improved self- perception, (c) repairing harm through intervention, and (d) spiritual practice as a blueprint for positive self-identity and social integration among prisoners.

Further reading

• Ronel, N., & Segev, D. (eds.). (2015). Positive criminology. Routledge.
• Gold, D., Sutton, A., & Ronel, N. (2015). Non-violent empowerment self-help group for male batterers on recovery. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, doi:10.1177/0886260515596980.
• Ronel, N., & Segev, D. (2014). Positive criminology in practice. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 58(11), 1389-1407.
• Maruna, S., & Immarigeon, R. (eds.). (2013). After crime and punishment. Routledge.
• Ronel, N., Frid, N., & Timor, U. (2013). The practice of positive criminology: a vipassana course in prison. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 57(2), 133-153.
• Purvis, M., Ward, T., & Willis, G. (2011). The Good Lives Model in practice: offence pathways and case management. European Journal of Probation, 3(2), 4-28.
• Nolan Jr., James L. (2009). Legal accents, legal borrowing: the international problem-solving court movement. Princeton University Press.
• Braithwaite, J (2002). Restorative justice and responsive regulation. Oxford University Press.
• Drogin, E.Y. (2000). From therapeutic jurisprudence... to jurisprudent therapy. Behavioral Sciences & The Law, 18(4), 489-498.
• Ronel, N. (1998). Narcotics Anonymous: understanding the "bridge of recovery". Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 27(1-2), 179-197.

External links

• Positive criminology
• Understanding Desistance from Crime
• Good lives model
• How and why people stop offending: Discovering desistance
• Restorative justice