This study aimed to develop and evaluate Kor–Rang–Sang–Jai, a psychological training programme designed to support rehabilitation readiness among Thai female inmates convicted of drug-related offences.
The research was conducted in two phases. Phase 1 focused on programme development through documentary review, synthesis of psychological and educational foundations, activity design, and expert validation. The resulting programme, Kor–Rang–Sang–Jai, comprised 30 activities delivered over 120 h. Phase 2 examined programme implementation in a correctional setting with 41 female inmates convicted of drug-related offences, of whom 37 completed both pre-programme and post-programme outcome measures. Quantitative data were analysed using paired-samples t-tests, and qualitative evidence was used to support interpretation of programme engagement and perceived psychological change.
The programme was feasible to implement in a correctional setting and showed sustained participant engagement. Paired-samples t-tests indicated significant short-term improvements in self-compassion and guilt, with favourable but non-significant changes in hope and antisocial personality. These findings provide preliminary evidence of within-group psychological change during programme participation.
Future evaluations should move beyond single-group pre-post designs by incorporating matched comparison groups or controlled designs where ethically and operationally feasible. Future studies should also include official behavioural indicators, such as institutional records of substance misuse, violence, disciplinary incidents or other offence-paralleling behaviour, as well as post-release follow-up data on substance misuse relapse and recidivism.
Kor–Rang–Sang–Jai offers a structured example of how psychological training can be organised for selected female inmates convicted of drug-related offences. The programme may be useful as a rehabilitation-readiness intervention because it targets self-compassion, guilt, hope and antisocial personality, rather than relying only on discipline, information provision or vocational preparation. The programme highlights the importance of creating a respectful and psychologically safe learning environment. Activities involving self-reflection, responsibility-taking and future planning require facilitators to balance structure with sensitivity, particularly when working with women who may have histories of distress, stigma and repeated drug-related involvement.
The study supports the value of rehabilitation approaches that strengthen psychological resources relevant to reintegration, rather than framing women convicted of drug-related offences only in terms of punishment or risk. The present findings should be understood as tentative evidence of short-term psychological change and rehabilitation readiness, rather than as evidence of reduced recidivism or relapse.
This study presents a psychologically targeted prison-based training programme for female inmates convicted of drug-related offences in Thailand. The tentative findings suggest that such training may support selected psychological resources relevant to rehabilitation readiness and desistance-oriented preparation, although the study did not assess post-release recidivism or substance-use relapse.
