Consciousness-Based Education - Maharishi University of ...

consciousness-based education and governmentdevelopment in comparison to the wait-list and disinterested groups,after adjusting for pretest score and demographic covariates. The degreeof change in ego development found among the Transcendental Meditationparticipants is equivalent to that which usually occurs duringfour years of college; this is quite striking among a group of maximumsecurity inmates during 17 months, after an age (20) when ego developmentno longer usually changes. Regular Transcendental Meditationprogram participants, in contrast to non-participants, also showeddecreased aggression, psychopathology, and trait anxiety, and increasedpostconceptual experience. Other programs offered in the correctionalfacility were also evaluated, and did not show significant positivechange on the measures; this indicated that there was no predispositionfor positive change among subjects who were volunteers.The final part of the study (Alexander, 1982) was an archival analysisof recidivism data among Transcendental Meditation participantsreleased from the institution. Up to three years after release, TranscendentalMeditation program participants showed a significantly lowerrecidivism rate (return to prison for six months), fewer new convictions,and more clean records in comparison with samples from the other programsof the correctional facility. This effect was significant after controllingstatistically for demographic variables that were significantlyrelated to recidivism outcome.Folsom Prison and Other California InstitutionsAbrams and Siegel (1978) performed a cross-validation study of theeffects of the Transcendental Meditation program at Folsom Prisonin California. Two parallel studies were performed in which, in each,matched subjects were assigned either to learn the TranscendentalMeditation program or to be in a waiting control group; subjects werepre- and post-tested separated by a three-month period of practice ofthe Transcendental Meditation program. Ninety of the 113 men whobegan the two studies completed the research; transfer from the institutionwas the primary cause of attrition. Significant reductions in stateand trait anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), neuroticism (EysenckPersonality Inventory), hostility (Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory),and insomnia (questionnaire) were found in each study among TranscendentalMeditation program participants in contrast to controls.276