Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
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Online Publication Date: 26 Sept 2008

Low Reincarceration Rate Associated with Ananda Marga Yoga and Meditation

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Page Range: 43 – 48
DOI: 10.17761/ijyt.18.1.a41504h5w240v3u4
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Ananda Marga (AM) Yoga was taught to male inmates at Wake Correctional Center in Raleigh, NC. A five-year study of 190 inmates found that those who were taught Ananda Marga (AM) Yoga were significantly less likely to be reincarcerated upon release. Subjects were divided into two groups, those who attended at least one, but less than four classes, and those who attended more than four classes. Differences in reincarceration rates between these two groups during a two-year post-release period were striking. Of those who attended more than four classes, 8.5% were reincarcerated, while 25.2% of those who attended fewer than four classes were reincarcerated during this same period. This difference was found to be statistically significant at the 0.025 level.

Keywords: Yoga; meditation; prison; recidivism; reincarceration
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Murphy, LD. The NRF Vipassana recidivism study: final report. Unpublished manuscript, 2002. Data cited in: Parks GA, Marlatt GA, Bowen SW, et al. The University of Washington Vipassana Meditation Research Project at the North Rehabilitation Facility. American Jails Magazine, July/August 2003. Available at: www.prison.dhamma.org/amjarticle.pdf. Accessed January 29, 2008. www.prison.dhamma.org/amjarticle.pdf
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Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics Recidivism Study – June 2002. Summary found at: http://www.cor.state.pa.us/stats/lib/stats/BJS%20Recidivism%20Study.pdf. Accessed January 29, 2008. (no author listed). Full article at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/rpr94.htm . Accessed April 10, 2008. http://www.cor.state.pa.us/stats/lib/stats/BJS%20Recidivism%20Study.pdf
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