Nonviolent communication training and empathy in male parolees.
Journal of Correctional Health Care, 18(1), 8-19, 2012.
Marlow, E., Nyamathi, A., Grajeda, W. T., Bailey, N., Weber, A., & Younger, J.
DOI : 10.1177/1078345811420979
Full article : link
Abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the impact of a behavioural intervention, non-violent communication (NVC), on the development of empathic coping and communication skills in a sample of paroled men enrolled in a drug treatment programme (N=30).
At the end of the 8-week intervention, the results showed a significant increase in the participants’ levels of empathy.
Comment: The balanced emotional empathy scale used here is self-explanatory, which may consciously or unconsciously create a complacency bias in participants, especially as they take the same test before and after the intervention.
As the authors point out, this study has a number of limitations. Firstly, the participants were recruited from a SAT residential facility and may be different from people on parole who are not undergoing treatment. In addition, there was no control group, so the study does not allow conclusions to be drawn about the specific effects of this intervention. In addition, at baseline, all participants’ pre-test scores revealed slightly above-average levels of empathy, which may have increased their receptiveness to the intervention. Finally, 26% of participants left the study due to relapse or re-arrest. Had they completed the study, their post-intervention scores might not have improved and they might have described different experiences.
Perspectives: It would be relevant to evaluate the effects of this training with a control group and to measure the long-term effects at 6 months, for example.