Mindfulness as a Potential Means of Attenuating Anger and Aggression for Prospective Criminal Justice Professionals

This study is the first to examine the potential role of mindfulness for attenuating anger and aggression in prospective criminal
justice professionals. The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, Aggression Questionnaire, Hostile Attribution Bias Scale, and
Thought Recognition Inventory were administered to 272 undergraduate criminal justice majors. The results of a multivariate
analysis of variance model indicated that dispositional mindfulness related negatively with self-reported aggression and hostile
attribution bias and positively with thought recognition. A possible relationship between mindfulness and thought recognition
may operate to influence other mechanisms to heighten mental health, as well as reduce anger and aggression. The potential
benefits of mindfulness and thought recognition training for criminal justice professionals and prospective criminal justice
professionals are discussed.