Background: The study of self-control has dominated criminology, yet little programming or research explores how knowledge about one’s internal development capacity can improve well-being. While there is a growing evidence base for an intrinsic human ability for clarity, wisdom, and creativity (i.e., innate health), such approaches to positive mental health outcomes are rarely delivered to men living in prison

Aims

This study sought to replicate and extend previous studies on the effects of innate health interventions among men living in prison and to test what may be a key ingredient to why these interventions appear successful. Does innate health function as a potential mediator among the incarcerated population?  

Method

We used a pre-, post-intervention, waitlist control group design between April 1st through October 19th, 2019. All volunteers (126) received normal prison programming while the intervention group (65) received an additional 3-day intensive with a program called Insight to Well-Being. We conducted a mediation analysis, tested social desirability bias, semi-structured interviews, and examined the impact of the intervention on crucial variables.

Results

This study replicated and extended previous studies among men in UK prisons, showing significant improvements in higher levels of innate health, self-control, wellbeing, and prosocial behavior and lower levels of aggression in the intervention group as compared to the control group. More importantly, innate health was found to serve as a mediator that functions similarly to self-control among men living in prison.

Conclusion

While these findings are preliminary, they do go beyond positive correlations and testing relationships. Thus, this study addresses a gap in the mental health literature more broadly, by suggesting that realization of one’s innate health may mediate similar or yet untested outcomes, in prison or in other populations. In fact, realization of innate health may act as a common factor across psychological interventions and is worth further investigation.