Transcendental Meditation Can Offer Peaceful Road to Rehabilitation

• NCJ Number: 133719
• Journal: Corrections Today Volume: 53 Issue: 7 Dated: (December 1991) Pages: 112,114-117
• Author(s): D M Murray
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 5 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Representatives of Maharishi Consultants International (MCI) claim that Transcendental Meditation (TM) can promote lower recidivism rates and reduce prison populations in the U.S. TM is a self-development technique in which practitioners utilize a special mental procedure that produces a deeply relaxed, yet fully alert state.

Abstract

According to MCI, TM has been taught to 2,700 inmates and more than 250 correctional officers in 28 facilities throughout the country. In California, where 950 inmates learned the technique, there was a 35-percent decrease in recidivism 5 years after the participating inmates were paroled. Many correctional officers and inmates have praised the positive outcomes of TM in terms of stress reduction, elimination of prison violence, and lowered recidivism rates. Most prison officials, however, maintain that TM must be integrated with other types of treatment programs.