Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy.
Family Studies and Research University Centre, Catholic University of Milan, Milano, Italy.
Crim Behav Ment Health. 2022 Oct;32(5):337-349. doi: 10.1002/cbm.2260. Epub 2022 Sep 2.
Previous research with general population samples has consistently shown that forgiveness and mindfulness facilitate coping with distressing experiences and significantly promote mental health. No study, however, has examined their unique contribution to prisoners' psychological wellbeing nor has considered the different forms of self-forgiveness among prisoners.
Our aim was to investigate the role of mindfulness in mediating any association between prisoners' self-forgiveness and psychological wellbeing and to test whether any such links are moderated by years spent in prison. In this study self-forgiveness was conceptualised as a multidimensional construct, including presence of genuine self-forgiveness, absence of pseudo self-forgiveness and/or absence of self-punitiveness.
Participants were recruited from a prison in Northern Italy. Consenting men were asked to complete an anonymous self-report questionnaire with only a researcher present.
104 male prisoners (mean age 46.63 years, SD 11.38) took part. Findings were that self-punitiveness was inversely related to well-being, with mindfulness mediating this relationship, this while controlling for the other dimensions of self-forgiveness and the perceived severity of the crime committed. Contrary to expectation, we found no direct relationship between genuine self-forgiveness and well-being, but the moderated mediation models showed that genuine self-forgiveness was positively associated with mindfulness and, through this, had an indirect association with wellbeing, significant only for prisoners who had already spent several years in prison.
Our findings confirm that self-forgiveness is a complex construct, worthy of further investigation among offenders. They suggest that forgiveness interventions for prisoners should include modules aimed at primarily reducing self-punitive attitudes. Promotion of genuine self-forgiveness should be tried only with awareness that this is likely to take a very long time. In such circumstances, interventions may promote energy to be invested in mindful processes with a consequent improvement in psychological wellbeing.
先前的研究表明，在一般人群样本中，宽恕和正念有助于应对痛苦的经历，显著促进心理健康。然而，没有研究检验过它们对囚犯心理健康的独特贡献，也没有考虑过囚犯自我宽恕的不同形式。
我们的目的是研究正念在多大程度上可以调节囚犯自我宽恕与心理健康之间的关系，并检验这种关系是否会因在监狱服刑的年限而有所不同。在这项研究中，自我宽恕被视为一个多维结构，包括真正的自我宽恕、不存在虚假的自我宽恕和/或不存在自我惩罚。
参与者是从意大利北部的一所监狱招募的。同意的男性被要求在只有一名研究人员在场的情况下完成一份匿名的自我报告问卷。
共有 104 名男性囚犯（平均年龄 46.63 岁，标准差 11.38 岁）参与了研究。结果表明，自我惩罚与幸福感呈负相关，而正念可以调节这种关系，同时控制其他自我宽恕维度和所犯罪行的严重程度。出乎意料的是，我们没有发现真正的自我宽恕与幸福感之间存在直接关系，但有调节的中介模型表明，真正的自我宽恕与正念呈正相关，而通过这种关系，与幸福感呈间接相关，仅对那些已经在监狱服刑多年的囚犯有显著影响。
我们的研究结果证实，自我宽恕是一个复杂的结构，值得进一步在罪犯中进行研究。它们表明，对囚犯的宽恕干预应该包括旨在主要减少自我惩罚态度的模块。尝试促进真正的自我宽恕时，应该意识到这可能需要很长时间。在这种情况下，干预措施可能会促进囚犯将精力投入到正念过程中，从而改善心理健康。
