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Transcendental Meditation in Criminal Rehabilitation and Crime Prevention. Pp. 89-95.
© 2003 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.
Section II: Original Research on Rehabilitation
First Prison Study Using the Transcendental Meditation Program: La Tuna Federal Penitentiary, 1971
David W. Orme-Johnson
Maharishi University of Management
Richard M. Moore
Channel One, Los Angeles
ABSTRACT This repeated-measures study investigated effects of the Transcendental Meditation
1 technique on physiological and psychological variables in 17 prison inmates. After practicing the technique for 2 months, inmates showed increased stability of the autonomic nervous system, as indicated by fewer spontaneous skin resistance responses (SSRR),
p < .001. They also showed reductions in rigidity, obsessive thoughts, and compulsive behavior, as indicated by two scales on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), decreased Psychasthenia (MMPI scale 7,
p < .025), and decreased Social Introversion (MMPI scale 10,
p < .05). Regularity of practice correlated significantly with the percentage decrease in SSRR (
r = .74,
N = 12,
p < .01). In turn, decreased SSRR correlated with decreased Psychasthenia (
r = .68,
p < .025). This correlation between increasing stability of the autonomic nervous system and reductions in rigid or obsessive thoughts and compulsive behavior is consistent with studies in other populations. The results of the present study suggest the Transcendental Meditation
program improves integrated function of the frontal lobes of the brain in a manner useful in rehabilitating offenders.
[Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: <[email protected]> Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com> © 2003 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.] KEYWORDS Autonomic nervous system, social introversion, compulsive behavior, frontal lobes, Transcendental Meditation, rehabilitation
The concept of using the Transcendental Meditation technique for prison rehabilitation arose when the authors were returning with friends from a weekend Transcendental Meditation program Residence Course in Las Cruces, New Mexico. During a Residence Course, participants add extra practice sessions of the Transcendental Meditation program (beyond the ordinary one in the morning and one in the evening) and receive knowledge about the principles underlying the program; together, these deepen the restful and revitalizing effects of the program. As we drove past La Tuna Federal Penitentiary and all eyes gazed out at the prison, there was a silence in the car. Suddenly, we all seemed to have the idea simultaneously that prison inmates could, in essence, be on a Residence Course all the time.
We called the warden and arranged to meet with him and with John Kiehlbauch, then the prison psychologist. We presented the research from Wallace’s 1970 Science article showing that the Transcendental Meditation technique produces an integrated physiological response that is the opposite of the pattern produced by stress (Wallace, 1970a). We also presented the results from research then in progress showing that practitioners have greater autonomic stability and recover faster from stressful stimulation than do controls (Orme-Johnson, 1973). Kiehlbauch was interested, and we planned a 2-month longitudinal pilot study in which we would administer both the MMPI and a polygraph test for autonomic stability.
Methods
Subjects
The 17 subjects who volunteered for the study were male inmates of La Tuna Federal Penitentiary near El Paso, Texas, who had been incarcerated for narcotics-related crimes and who were participating in the Narcotics Rehabilitation Act (NARA) program at La Tuna. Fifteen subjects were in their early 20s, and two subjects were in their early 30s; approximately half were of Mexican-American origin, a quarter were Black, and a quarter were Caucasian.
Apparatus
Measurements of SSRR were recorded on a Lafayette polygraph with silver-silver chloride contoured electrodes, 4 × 6 cm on the palm and 1.5 × 2 cm on the middle finger.
Procedure
In early June 1971, the inmates from the NARA program attended an introductory lecture on the Transcendental Meditation program at the prison. Twelve who planned to start the program and five who did not plan to start but were willing to serve as controls were given the MMPI the following week, and phasic electrodermal activity was measured. After electrodes were attached, each subject sat resting in a chair with eyes open for a 5-minute adaptation period followed by a 10-minute measurement period. Physiological measures at pretest and posttest were taken while subjects were awake with eyes open, not during practice sessions of the Transcendental Meditation program. The equipment and two experimenters were in the same quiet room as the subject. The subject was seated so he could not see the equipment but could easily be observed by the experimenters. Only electrodermal responses over 100 ohms in amplitude that were not correlated with the subject’s movements or external noise were scored as spontaneous.
The following week, prisoners planning to start the Transcendental Meditation technique were instructed through the standard 4-day course. They were asked to practice the technique 20 minutes twice a day. Transcendental Meditation program subjects met with their instructor for a few minutes each day for 2 weeks and weekly after that for verification of their practice. Over the 2-month period of the experiment, experimental subjects and controls engaged in the same daily prison routines, except that the experimental subjects practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique and attended the verification sessions. To maintain an equal degree of acquaintance with all subjects, the experimenters did not meet with the experimental or control subjects during the time between measurements. Two months after Transcendental Meditation program instruction, subjects from both groups were retested on the MMPI and on the physiological measures. After physiological measurements were taken, the Transcendental Meditation subjects filled out a questionnaire on their regularity of practice. At the time of recording and scoring of SSRR, the experimenters did not know whether a subject had practiced the Transcendental Meditation program regularly or not. All tests were one-tailed since the hypotheses were directional.
Results
Spontaneous Skin Resistance Responses
Of the 12 meditators posttested, five were found to have meditated regularly. Regularity was defined as meditating at least 60 out of the optimal 120 times during the two months. There were five regular meditators, seven irregular meditators, and seven controls.
Table 1 shows that all groups decreased in SSRR on posttesting, probably a laboratory adaptation effect, but the percentage of decrease was significantly greater for regular meditators than for irregular meditators (t = 4.92, p < .001) or for control subjects (t = 1.89, p < .05). The higher mean level of SSRR for regular meditators at pretest was not statistically significant, but they did have a significantly lower level at posttest than irregular meditators (t = 3.18, p < .005). This suggests that the greater reduction in SSRR in the regular meditators can not be attributed to a regression towards the mean.
Table 1: Electrodermal Measurements Before and After Two Months of Transcendental Meditation Practice For basal skin resistance, there were no significant differences between groups on pretest or posttest. The correlation between the number of meditations during the two months and the percentage of decrease in SSRR was r = .738, N = 12, p < .01. Thus, the greater the regularity of meditation, the greater was the increase in autonomic stability.
MMPI
At pretest the three groups showed similar MMPI profiles, with peaks on scales 4 (Psychopathic Deviate) and 9 (Hypomania), a pattern characteristic of narcotics addicts (Hill, Haertzen, & Glasser, 1960; Olson, 1964). This combination indicates an aggressive personality and the tendency to act out impulses in a socially unacceptable way.
At pretest there were no statistically significant differences among groups on any of the subscales of the MMPI, although initially the regular group did tend to show a lower K score, suggesting a more frank attitude towards answering the questions. The level of K on posttesting was almost identical for the regular and control groups, and none of the differences among groups on K scores were statistically significant, suggesting that the subjects’ attitudinal sets towards taking the test were not significantly different.
The regular group decreased more than the control group on scale 7 (Psychasthenia, obsessive-compulsive behavior, t = 2.53, p < .025) and on scale 10 (Social Introversion, t = 2.22, p < .05). The regular group also decreased more than the irregular group on scale 7 (t = 2.14, p < .05). The decrease in scale 10 indicates an increase in social ease and tendency to outgoing behavior in the regular group.
A significant correlation of r = .68 was found between the magnitude of decrease on scale 7 and magnitude of decrease on SSRR (p < .025, N = 12). This relationship suggests that an increase in physiological stability was accompanied by an increase in behavioral flexibility in the Transcendental Meditation group.
Subjective Reports
The subjective reports of Transcendental Meditation program subjects were favorable. All reported increased relaxation, a reduction of tension, and greater mental clarity.
Discussion
This longitudinal study replicates cross-sectional results showing that practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique increases autonomic stability (Orme-Johnson, 1973). The significant correlation between regularity of practice of the Transcendental Meditation program and degree of increase in stability suggests that the prisoners who participated in the program benefited in proportion to the regularity of their practice of the program. Even those subjects who were moderately regular (practicing the Transcendental Meditation program half the recommended frequency is considered minimal participation in the program) showed measurable physiological and psychological benefits.
Decrease on scale 7 of the MMPI suggests reduced rigidity, reduced obsessive thoughts, and reduced compulsive behavior, or conversely, increased flexibility of thinking and action. The significant correlation between changes in scale 7 and changes in autonomic stability suggests an interesting psychophysical relationship, that is, a tendency of increased autonomic stability to covary with increased behavioral and cognitive flexibility.
Subsequent to this study, a meta-analysis of 32 physiological studies has confirmed that practice of the Transcendental Meditation program increases autonomic stability, as indicated by increased basal SR and decreased respiratory rate and plasma lactate during the practice and decreased SSRR, respiratory rate, heart rate, and plasma lactate outside of the practice (Dillbeck & Orme-Johnson, 1987).
The present results are especially interesting in the context of the reported electrodermal hyporeactivity of subjects with antisocial behavior. Studies indicate that psychopathic, delinquent, hyperactive, and aggressive individuals are as if frozen autonomically, showing lower tonic levels of skin conductance, smaller amplitude autonomic responses to stimulation, slower recovery of the skin resistance response, and fewer SSRR (Fowles, 1993; Hare, 1978). In this view, the antisocial individual has an unresponsive autonomic nervous system and, therefore, does not display the conditioning considered by some to be necessary for becoming socialized through learning from repeated mistakes (Damasio, Tranel, & Damasio, 1990). Such freezing of the autonomic nervous system is held to be the physiological substrate of the unfeeling, cold-hearted criminal who experiences no anxiety or behavioral inhibition to curb criminal behavior (Hare, 1978).
A wide range of evidence indicates that the autonomic stability resulting from practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique is quite the opposite of the antisocial pattern described above. In the present research, increased autonomic stability was correlated with increased cognitive and behavioral flexibility. Whereas antisocial individuals show lower levels of tonic electrodermal activity (Fowles, 1993), in the present study, tonic electrodermal activity did not change significantly in the Transcendental Meditation group. Whereas psychopathic inmates tend to show slow electrodermal recovery from stimulation (Hinton, O’Neil, Hamilton, & Burke, 1980), Transcendental Meditation subjects tend to show more rapid recovery (Brooks & Scarano, 1985; Gaylord, Orme-Johnson, & Travis, 1989; Goleman & Schwartz, 1976; Orme-Johnson, 1973) and decrea...
