Page 163 - Demo

161Between 1987 and 1989, more than 11,000 inmates and 900 correctional offi cers and prison administrators in 31 of the 34 prisons in the West African nation of Senegal were instructed in the Transcendental Meditation program. Averaging all 34 prisons (including three where TM was not taught), rule infractions decreased 81% and medical expenses 70%. Among released TM prisoners, recidivism dropped 97%. It is important to note that these results were not the product of a controlled study and, therefore, must be treated with some reserve. The Senegal project illustrates the signifi cant and positive impact that the use of the Transcendental Meditation program can have on correctional outcomes in prisons in a developing nation. (Reference 1)Colonel Diop, Director of Penitentiary Administration, made the following comment on the reduction in recidivism in his letter to study organizer and author Farrokh Anklesaria: %u201cConsidering that there is no structure or scheme for the reintegration of inmates into society, nor is there any provision for work or jobs for those released, it appears that the only possible explanation for this remarkable drop in recidivism in our country is to be found the application of your program.%u201d (Anklesaria, January 12, 1989)Housing fewer people in prison produced a large reduction in the costs of the prison system. Magill%u2019s analysis of projected cost savings from TM, working from data on US prison studies, found the overall ratio of program cost to total savings to be at least 1 to 10, with 46% of savings accruing to the correctional system and 54% to the general public. (Reference 2)BETTER LIFE INSIDE & OUTSIDE PRISONReduction of Rule Infractions, MedicalExpenditures, and RecidivismRecidivism-0%-20%-40%-60%-80%-100%RuleInfractionsMedicalExpensesPercentage Change After TM Program-81% -70% -97%tm-046Reference 1: Anklesaria, F. K., & King, M. S. (2003). The Transcendental Meditation program in the Senegalese penitentiary system. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 36(1%u20134), 303%u2013318.Reference 2: Magill, D. L. (2003). Cost savings from teaching the Transcendental Meditation program in prisons. In C. N. Alexander, K. G. Walton, & D. L. Magill (Eds.), Transcendental Meditation in criminal rehabilitation and crime prevention (pp. 297%u2013302). The Haworth Press.