Maifones: A Mindfulness-Based Educational Intervention for Orphaned Youth in Atlixco, Mexico

• Other Authors: Martinez-Oronoz, Francisco J. (Francisco Javier) (author)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Education
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/2018_Fall_MartinezOronoz_fsu_0071E_14842

Over the past 10 years, there have been significant movements in the area of contemplative education. Of particular interest is how these contemplative education approaches can be leveraged to provide tools for supporting youth in emergency settings, dealing with difficult backgrounds that include violence, conflict, and poverty. Within contemplative education exists the growing mindfulness movement, emerging as an exciting supplement to existing programs that work with vulnerable populations, focusing on developing positive self, moral, social, and emotional understanding. This paper argues that a mindfulness-based intervention, as a part of an educational program for street children in Mexico could help them deal with their daily stressors and their socioemotional barriers to education, allowing them to truly benefit from the programs being made available to them. Mindfulness, therefore, can be understood as a capability that helps to achieve functionings- real freedoms or opportunities. In this ethnographic case study, for a twelve week period, I lived with a group of youth in situ, at the orphanage where they reside, participating in daily life at the IPODERAC program in Atlixco, Mexico. Two groups of youth between the ages of 12 and 18 were assessed at this all-boys institution. One group was provided an eight-week mindfulness-based curriculum, while the control continued with standard programming. After a year, I returned for four weeks, again living at the orphanage, participating in daily life. The qualitative methods employed were: participant observation, regular recording of field notes on daily life and events, interviews with youth, interviews with their educators, and student journal entries. The supporting quantitative component consisted of a pretest/posttest, using the Child and Adolescents Mindfulness Measure (CAMM) given to both treatment and control groups. The first manner in which the boys lived and understood mindfulness after the intervention was through behavior change and the decision making regulated behavior. The subjects felt that through this practice they could overcome the impulsive behaviors they typically acted with and that they could provide more conscious responses. The boys embodied this idea through self-regulating actions by using mindfulness as a mediator between stimulus and response. The second manner in which mindfulness was lived was through dealing with the difficulties of the sadness, anger, and traumatic memories and remnants of their pasts. Based on the intervention, they were not then free of all emotional problems they face, rather, it pointed to the fact that the boys believe that through these exercises they found a tool for managing their often clouded minds. As a result of the practice, the boys' envisioning of their future was also tied directly to the themes of lived experience, embodiment, self-regulation, and emotional regulation, as the boys felt that in order to reach a point in life where able to keep a job, have better relationships, and most importantly be good fathers and husbands, they had to regulate themselves and their emotions. Therefore, mindfulness became a viable tool to reach that future. Educators corroborated these findings, talking about how the boys would sometimes use a language in the homes at the orphanage to better describe their actions and how they wished to avoid their impulsive behaviors. On the 10-item CAMM, the mean difference in mindfulness gain scores between the two groups was -3.45, with the treatment group demonstrating larger average gains (2.35) than the control group (-1.10). After a t-test it was determined that the difference in gain scores between the treatment group and the control group was significant (p =.019), supporting the claims the boys were reporting. My return a year later found that the mindfulness practice had largely not been sustained, although some did continue the breathing exercises and recollection of the curriculum was largely limited to simply better decision making. This follow up visit and the somewhat disappointing findings from it led to the several recommendations, which could help sustain the positive results documented during the first four months of this study. First, the institutionalization of a plan that involves mindfulness at all level of the organization, especially those working directly with the youth, is imperative. Second, given the trauma that this population of boys has suffered, an increased dosage is likely warranted and particularly important. Third, future studies on the application and impact of mindfulness in contexts such as IPODERAC should continue to be qualitative in nature, in order to get to a deeper understanding of the population and their engagement and understanding of the material. A quantitative assessment is useful in measuring learning gains and is an appropriate supplement to the qualitative work. === A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Education Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. === Fall Semester 2018. === November 1, 2018. === Contemplative Education, Education in Emergencies, International Development, Meditation, Mindfulness, Street Youth === Includes bibliographical references. === Helen Boyle, Professor Directing Dissertation; Neil Abell, University Representative; Toby Park, Committee Member; Jeffrey Ayala Milligan, Committee Member; Flavia Ramos-Mattoussi, Committee Member.