A Study on Buddhist Approaches to Rehabilitating prisoners
Korean Buddhist Counselling Society December 31, 2023 Korean Buddhist Counselling Society, Tae-wook(Doyeon) Lee
The paper argues that current rehabilitation programs for prisoners in South Korea fail to address deep-seated psychological issues such as trauma, cognition, guilt, and emotional understanding. It contends that Buddhist practices, including compassion meditation, Vipassana, breath awareness, penance, and chanting, can heal underlying problems by helping inmates objectively examine their sins. The authors propose that modern reinterpretations of Buddhist practice, such as MBCT, MBSR, and MSC programs, offer effective methods for inmate reform and smoother social reintegration. The study identifies prisoner issues and introduces Buddhist methodologies for rehabilitation.