Evaluating Effectiveness of MBSR in Reducing Stress among Juvenile Delinquents

Abstract

The number of children involved in criminal activities has risen dramatically. Juveniles are mostly engaged in criminal activities such as drinking, theft, murder and rape. Though most of these families did not suffer from alcoholism or criminal records, these children committed crimes such as smoking, drinking, theft, rape, murder, etc. Among the juveniles, theft was the most frequently committed offence due to an easy money complex, peer influence, and family pressure to earn money to support their families. The study also states that most of the juveniles worked instead of going to school since they were forced to work. The aim of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness based stress reduction in reducing stress among juvenile delinquents. The statistical population of the study consisted of juvenile delinquents. This study consisted of 50 juvenile delinquents (25 for experimental group & 25 for control group). The experimental group of juvenile offenders participated in eight weekly two and half hour mindfulness-based intervention sessions. For the same amount of time, the juvenile offenders in the control group did not receive any intervention. According to research, a mindfulness practice involves paying attention to the present moment, non-judgmentally. In short, in daily practices of mindfulness, individuals can experience positive benefits. Juvenile delinquents can lessen the harmful effects of stress by practicing mindfulness as a self-care technique. The results showed that the experimental group showed a significant reduction in stress as compared to control group.