A qualitative investigation of the experience of a mindfulness-based intervention with incarcerated adolescents

Background: This study investigated the experience of 23 incarcerated male adolescents who participated in an adapted 10-week mindfulness-based intervention. Method: Participants completed semi-structured interviews immediately following the final class of the treatment intervention. A six-step thematic content analysis was used to identify major themes from the transcribed semi-structured interviews. Results: Four major clusters of themes were identified: increase in subjective well-being, increase in self-regulation, increase in awareness, and accepting attitude toward the treatment intervention. Conclusion: Results suggest that adapted mindfulness-based interventions are feasible as treatments for incarcerated youth and have promising potential. Clinical implications are discussed.