Contemplative practices and the movement toward a more just criminal legal system.

Contemplative practices like mindfulness can support justice in the criminal legal system, but their impact depends on the ethical framework and context. Over eight years of research with police officers and incarcerated individuals—both groups traumatized by an unjust system—qualitative interviews with officers suggest that focusing too much on individual resilience may limit interpersonal benefits and critical awareness of systemic injustice. Community advisors recommend that police training be more responsive to community concerns. An advisory board of formerly incarcerated individuals advises that mindfulness can best support community reentry by foregrounding shared humanity. To advance justice, practitioners must be explicit about ethics, target individuals and organizations capable of systems change, and emphasize shared humanity over perceived differences.

Study at a glance

Abstract

What is the role of contemplative practices in the movement toward a more "just" criminal legal system? Over the past 8 years, we have explored this question through parallel lines of research and practice with police officers and incarcerated individuals who, despite very different relationships to this system, are all traumatized by an unjust system that erodes the humanity of all those connected to it. This article integrates our perspectives and critical reflections on this work with qualitative data from three groups we have engaged as research participants and community advisors. First, we share excerpts from semistructured interviews with police officers suggesting that an overemphasis on individual resilience and well-being may limit the extent to which mindfulness practices lead to interpersonal benefits or raise critical awareness of officers' role in an unjust criminal legal system. Second, we share perspectives from community advisors on how future research and training with police officers can be more responsive to community concerns and priorities. Third, after sharing reflections on offering mindfulness practices in prisons, we summarize recommendations from an advisory board of formerly incarcerated individuals on how mindfulness can best support community reentry. To advance justice through contemplative practice and research, our experiences suggest we must be explicit about the ethical framework in which mindfulness practices are offered; bring these practices to individuals and organizations with the capability to influence systems change; and foreground shared humanity above perceived differences for individuals with very different relationships to the criminal legal system. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).