Prisoners and guards 'should meditate together', MP says
By Bill Gardner, and agency 10:12PM GMT 10 Dec 2014
Prisoners and their guards should meditate together to reduce violence and improve behaviour, an MP has suggested.
Mindfulness is said to change the way people think about experiences and reduce stress and anxiety, an approach adopted by around 115 MPs and peers in the "hothouse" of Parliament.
Using meditation, devotees are trained to "accept the intentional, accepting and non-judgmental focus of one's attention on the emotions, thoughts and sensations occurring in the present moment".
Labour's Chris Ruane said the "chic" approach would help prisoners to learn "gratitude, appreciation and balance". Meditating would also help inmates become better citizens when they leave jail, he said.
The Vale of Clwyd MP added officers and prisoners should learn together while the approach should also be extended to police officers and the military.
Google, Apple and other top international companies advocate the technique, Mr Ruane said.
He added US marines had also successfully adopted it, telling the Commons: "If it works with big beefy marines, I think it could work with British prison officers."
Justice Minister Andrew Selous acknowledged the Ministry of Justice is to launch mindfulness projects in the new year, although did not specify further details.
Speaking during an adjournment debate, Mr Ruane noted issues had been caused by a decrease in prison staff at a time when the number of inmates had increased.
The Labour backbencher told the Commons: "I think it's how you pitch mindfulness as an intervention, that is accepted - in fact it's quite chic for some people.
"Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post, she practices it and preaches it, it's done by Apple, Google, all the top international companies are having it.
"And I think if it's good enough for the captains of industry, it's also good enough for ordinary workers like prison officers, like police officers and indeed their clients as well - prisoners and prison officers together in tandem and this is when mindfulness works best when it's the teacher and the pupil, when it's the GP and the patient, where compassion is increased.
"So I believe if we were to introduce mindfulness in prisons then we would help on a whole range of issues.
"We've literally got a captive audience there with prisoners. They're in there 24 hours a day, what did they do within those 24 hours?
"Do they learn the skills that mindfulness brings? The skills of gratitude, appreciation, of balance - personal balance and equanimity - which will help them be better prisoners, help them be less violent towards prison guards and help them to be better citizens when they move out into society."
Mr Ruane said the approach had worked with the US marines being taught mindfulness before heading to Afghanistan and Iraq for combat operations.
He said: "It was such a success that it is now being rolled out to the US Army.
"If it works with big beefy marines, I think it could work with British prison officers."
He said the five-year pilot project had also helped the soldiers upon their return to civilian life.
Replying for the Government, Mr Selous said: "I can tell (Mr Ruane) that the NHS has five ways towards wellbeing.
"The fifth of those is mindfulness and within the Ministry of Justice we have already started on this work and will launch projects on mindfulness in the new year."