1.  INTRODUCTION

 

Crime is essentially a social problem which disrupts the harmony and peace of a society.  Until now, the most common way of dealing with criminals has been to imprison them, i.e., confine them within the boundaries of a prison, subject them to harsh conditions, with the goal of instilling a fear of the prison so that once they are released, they do not dare to commit another criminal act which will bring them back to the prison. 

 

But this philosophy that punishment and oppression is the best way of handling the prisoners has worked counter to the goals of imprisonment: that of reducing recidivism (relapse into criminal behavior).  On the contrary, the criminals were repeatedly returning to the prison, many times having committed worse crimes than the ones before.  Their exposure to a high density of hard-core offenders, separation from their family, alienation from the society added to their stress, fear and frustrations, making their mind more imbalanced than before.  It was making worse and more ferocious criminals of them and hardening them so much that they were unable to adjust back into the society and lead a constructive life. 

 

Realizing that this method of punishment was proving unsuccessful, various reform measures have been adopted to rehabilitate prisoners and equip them with the inner ability to transform themselves.  Vipassana meditation, as taught by S.N. Goenka is being used as a prison reform measure with the ultimate objective of reducing recidivism, and reintegration of prisoners back into the society once they are released.

 

 ‘Vipassana’ which means ‘insight’ or ‘to see things as they really are’ in Pali, is the essence of the Buddha’s teachings (Hart, 1987).  It is a straightforward way to achieve peace of mind and to live a happy, useful life.  It equips one with the inner strength to face the vicissitudes of life in a calm, balanced manner, and gain mastery over one’s mind.  It is a practical experiential way of understanding the mind-matter phenomenon and purifying one’s mind of underlying negativities.

 

I have been familiar with the technique of Vipassana Meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka since my childhood.  I belong to a family where my parents as well as other family members follow this meditation practice.  It is the foundation of the principles by which they lead their life, and the philosophy by which they have brought up their children.  It has been an integral aspect of my life since a young age.  I participated in my first Vipassana meditation course when I was 21 years old, right after I returned from my first year of experience living in a foreign country and culture.

 

Thereafter, I have sat through two more courses, and attended a few short courses. 

SIT gave me the wonderful opportunity to explore this issue in greater detail through the Social Change class I took in the Spring I semester.  Although theorization and intellectualization of Vipasanna is quite contrary to its fundamental aspect of being experiential and understanding it only through personal experience, it was my first attempt to relate it to an academic setting.  As a part of the course, I chose to present Vipassana meditation as a tool for Social Change, and gave an account of the popularity and benefits it had brought to various aspects of the society viz., de-addiction, mental health, and also prison reform, with more and more prisons all over the world introducing it in their system.

 

The first Vipassana course in a prison took place in Jaipur, India, in 1975.  However, it was only after almost 20 years that Vipassana established itself as a tool for social and prison reform in the 1990s.  It was Kiran Bedi, the then Inspector General of Prisons of Tihar Jail, the highest security prison in the country and the largest in Asia, who introduced Vipassana as one of the reform techniques of Tihar jail.  The tremendous impact and change that it brought about in the prisoners was the turning point and very soon more and more prisons began organizing these meditation courses for the prisoners.  Today, the meditation practice is not just confined to India but its non-sectarian and universal application is being recognized in prison facilities in many other parts of the world, especially North America, where Vipassana has had the same positive effects on the prison inmates.

 

Vipassana meditation was also introduced as a training technique for the police personnel and jail staff by Kiran Bedi, who realized that the rehabilitation of the prisoners cannot take place by reforming prisoners alone, but that the people who deal with them i.e., the jail staff and police personnel, also needed to be reformed.

 

 

2.  RESEARCH QUESTION

 

Previous studies carried out to assess the effect of Vipassana on prisoners, observations by prison staff, as well as the personal accounts of prisoners have all affirmed that Vipassana has a positive impact on the prisoners.

 

Drawing from my experience, information gathered, and literature reviewed, my main interest is to explore how Vipassana meditation has helped in prison reform.

 

My research question is:

 

How does the practice of Vipassana meditation, as taught by S.N.Goenka facilitate prison reform and the reintegration of prisoners back into society?

 

Initially, at the time of drafting the proposal, my intention was to research the effect of Vipassana on the reintegration of prisoners back in the society.  I intended to track released prisoners who had done Vipassana and then conduct my research on the information they provided.  However, when I tried to find out contacts of released prisoners both in India and North America, I almost reached a dead-end.  In North America, I faced a lot of legal restrictions due to which I could not get any information.  In India, I learnt that the Vipassana Centers had not kept track of released meditators, and also the prisons did not know how to contact them.  Many of the prisoners had left behind false addresses with the authorities.  With the stigma attached to being a prisoner, the released inmates did not wish to be associated in any way with their prison life.

 

In my quest to collect information I spoke to a number of Vipassana meditation teachers, jail administrators and police personnel.  Talking to them I learnt that reforming the prisoner is just one aspect of prison reform, and unless and until reform measures are employed on the entire gamut of people involved including police, jail staff, and prisoners, the society will produce more criminals and injustice will still prevail.  In order to get a holistic view on how Vipassana affects all aspects of reforms: instilling right values in the police, reforming prisoners so that they do not repeat their crimes or become more hardened criminals due to the prison environment, as well as reintegration of prisoners in the society, I decided to talk to the entire chain of people including police personnel, jail administrators, inmates in the prison, released inmates as well as people in the community.

 

Therefore, in this study, by prison reform, I mean reforming not just prisoners, but also the prison system that increases the misery of the prisoners. I am specifically referring to reform of the prison environment created by the attitudes and behaviors of the police personnel as well as the jail staff that are in contact with the prisoners.

 

The sub questions I will explore are:

 

What is Vipassana Meditation?

 

What are the effects of Vipassana meditation on police personnel, jail staff and prisoners?

 

How does Vipassana Meditation bring about attitudinal and behavioral changes in jail and police personnel as well as prisoners?

 

Does the practice of Vipassana meditation help the criminals in their reintegration back into the society? If yes, in what way?

 

 

3.  RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

 

Initially, I had proposed to use literature review, a questionnaire and some interviews to conduct the research.  I contacted the Vipassana meditation centers and also the prison authorities to locate my subjects.  From them I learnt that many of the subjects were not educated, hence, will not be able to respond to a written questionnaire.  Also, I had to reach out to them personally, as there was no guarantee that even if I sent out a questionnaire to them I would receive any responses.  I realized that talking to them at a personal level would give better insight and add value to the data collection.  Therefore I decided to conduct interviews instead of sending out a questionnaire.  I have used Literature review and interviews as my main research methods.

 

I interviewed police and jail staff, current inmates in the prison, released prisoners as well as community members as part of my research.  All the interviews and data were collected in India.  With the help of the Vipassana meditation centers, I got information about the jail courses and contacted the jail authorities.  I visited Tihar Jail in New Delhi, and the Nagpur jail where I interviewed both the prisoners and also the jail staff.  The jail administration was very cooperative and made special arrangements so that I could visit the jail and meet the inmates.  Initially, the prisoners were a bit apprehensive about the interviews, and did not wish to divulge much personal information.  Even though they were assured that the interviews were just for research purpose and related specifically to Vipassana, they remained reserved.  I had to reframe the questions in different ways to get information from them.  The released prisoners, on the other hand were very happy to share their Vipassana experiences and spoke very openly.  Even the police staff did not have any reservations or inhibitions about talking about Vipassana and their professional and personal lives.

 

In all, I spoke to 28 people: 7 police and jail personnel, 15 prisoners, 4 released prisoners and 2 community members who knew the released prisoners.  All of them, except the 2 community members have participated in Vipassana courses taught under the guidance of S.N. Goenka.  Although some questions addressed to each group were unique for that particular group, there was a general set of common questions.  These included if and how Vipassana meditation has helped them, what, if anything, have they learnt from Vipassana, what changes, if any, has it brought about in themselves and the environment, how has the practice of Vipassana meditation helped their job or situation.  The findings and analysis pertaining to each group have been presented separately in the Findings and Analysis section of the paper.

 

While analyzing the contents of the interviews, I tried to look for similar expressions, which I clustered together.  Since they were practicing the same meditation practice and came from similar background (police, prison, etc.) I looked for similarities and differences in their responses.  In many instances I have mentioned the exact phrases and words used by the interviewees to portray their exact feelings and to maintain the sanctity of the message they were conveying.  I have also related these findings to the literature reviewed.

 

 

4.  LITERATURE REVIEW

 

Through the literature review, I am exploring the exact nature of Vipassana meditation, how it is related to prison reform, and what have been the results of the previous studies on the effects of Vipassana on prisoners, police personnel and jail staff.

 

Hart, W., 1987.  The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation, As Taught by S.N.  Goenka.

Igatpuri: Vipassana Research Institute.

 

To explain the Vipassana Meditation practice in the section ‘What is Vipassana’ that follows, I have primarily referred to the book “The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka”, by William Hart.  Since S.N. Goenka has not written a book himself, this book by Hart is considered to be the most accurate and comprehensive account of what is taught in a ten day Vipassana course.  It is very popular and most well accepted by the English speaking audience as the best explanation of the meditation technique, its philosophy and purpose.  Every chapter in the book is followed by answers to questions posed by students to S.N. Goenka regarding the technique and its relevance. The book includes short stories, and parables from the life of Buddha himself that exemplify the practicality of Vipassana meditation.

 

I have not referred to many other materials to explain Vipassana meditation technique because I found that there were no contradictions in any other sources that elaborated on this technique as taught by S.N.  Goenka.  In fact, all other sources also had references to Hart’s book to clearly explain Vipassana.  The contents of the book have been elaborated in the section ‘What Vipassana is’. 

Goenka, S.N.  1995.  The Discourse Summaries.  Igatpuri: Vipassana Research Institute 

 

In a ten day Vipassana meditation course taught under the guidance of S.N.  Goenka, a one and half hour discourse or lecture is given at the end of each day by S.N.  Goenka.  “The Discourse Summaries” is a condensed version of the eleven talks.  These ‘Dhamma’ talks as they are referred to (Dhamma means the ‘law’ that Buddha discovered) put into perspective the meditation instructions that the meditators follow during the day and also clarify the finer points of the technique.

 

During the ten days of the course, most of the time is spent in practicing the meditation technique as it is only by constant practice that the participants can benefit from Vipassana and free their mind of tensions and prejudices, and follow the path to liberation.  Therefore these talks are very important as they provide a theoretical background to the practical implementation of the technique.  The main purpose of these discourses, as S.N. Goenka explains, is to help meditators understand what to do and why, so that they can work in the guided way and achieve proper results.  In short, these discourses are the essence of what Buddha discovered and taught and every lecture by S.N.Goenka provides a theoretical foundation to support the practical experiences of the meditators.  This book provides inspiration and encouragement to the meditators and also presents an overview of the Vipassana technique to novices.  However, it is not a do-it yourself guide to learn the mediation technique which must only be done in an organized ten day retreat.  It may inspire readers to undertake a ten-day course themselves and learn the technique. 

 

Bedi, Kiran.  1998.  Its Always Possible: Transforming One of the Largest Prisons in the World.  New Delhi: Sterling. 

 

“Its Always Possible” by Kiran Bedi is the description of how one of the largest prisons in the world, Tihar jail, in New Delhi was transformed.  The author, Kiran Bedi herself was the pioneer in bringing about the change when she was appointed the Inspector General of Tihar Prisons.  The book is her personal account of the situation in the jail and the efforts taken to improve the environment.  Bedi gives a first hand account of the ground realities in the prison as they existed initially: lack of facilities, indifference of the jail staff, rampant corruption at all levels.  In her account of the appalling condition at Tihar, she describes how the environment was so horrible, the manner in which the police personnel and jail staff was continuing to exploit the inmates, how all the wrong dealings were still a part of the jail, with the more experienced criminals providing a training ground for the amateur ones.  It was here, that Vipassana was introduced and has today established itself as an integral part of the jail reform program.  She talks about how, despite introducing better facilities, efforts to ‘humanize’ the jail environment were unsuccessful until Vipassana meditation was introduced.  It brought about a profound change in the attitude of the jail staff and also the inmates.  Her experience at Tihar establishes that along with improving conditions of the external environment, a concerted effort in bringing about inner individual change is important to reform the prison environment.

 

Kumar, T.  1995.  Freedom Behind Bars.  New Delhi: Saurabh Publishers.

 

Tarsem Kumar was one of the Superintendents of Tihar Jail when Kiran Bedi was appointed the Inspector General of Tihar Jail.  This book is a personal account of how Vipassana meditation was introduced and established at Tihar.  Along with details of research carried out by the author to determine the impact of Vipassana on the behavior and conduct of inmates, it also includes case studies and testimonies by prisoners.  Kumar also writes about his personal experiences and how Vipassana has impacted his life both professionally and personally.

 

Karuna Films. 1997. Video. “Doing Time, Doing Vipassana.” Karuna Films, Ltd.

 

This is an award winning documentary film made by two Israeli film makers on the inmates of Tihar Jail and tells the story of Vipassana in Tihar.  It has interviews with Kiran Bedi who talks about her motivation and purpose behind introducing reforms, especially Vipassana at Tihar.  Testimonies by both Indian as well as foreign inmates of Tihar are evidence that Vipassana plays a reformative role in the life of prisoners.  Many prison authorities around the world have been inspired by this documentary and have introduced Vipassana for their inmates too.

 

Bedi, Kiran and Agarwal, Rakesh Kumar.2001.  “Transforming Values through Vipassana for Principle-Centered Living: Evidence from Delhi Police Personnel.” Journal of Power and Ethics, v2 i2 p103. (April).

 

This paper by Bedi and Agarwal, illustrates how the civil services and society can benefit by developing universal values through the practice of Vipassana meditation.  It considers transformational leadership and principle centered living as the basis by which the agents of state, especially the police should perform their duty.  Feedback from police officers who have participated in Vipassana training has been analyzed and the results show that Vipassana helps develop a strong ethical and moral foundation. 

 

 

5.  What is Vipassana

 

For the purpose of the research conducted and this paper, Vipassana meditation specifically refers to the meditation technique taught by S.N.Goenka, in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin.   It is a technique of self-realization through self- observation: an art of living which promotes conscious lifestyle changes, enhances concentration of mind and facilitates deeper psychological introspection to bring about lasting behavioral changes.

 

Vipassana was rediscovered by Gautama, the Buddha, about 2500 years ago in India.  Although this technique became very popular and was practiced by many at the time of the Buddha, its purity got lost in India after the Buddha’s death.  It was only in Myanmar (formerly called Burma) that Vipassana meditation was preserved in its true form and was passed on traditionally from teacher to student over the years. Sayagyi U Ba Khin was one of the last teachers from whom S.N. Goenka learnt this technique and brought it back to India.  Today there are more than 90 Vipassana meditation centers all over the world.

 

‘What Buddhism is’, is a series of lectures given by Sayagyi U Ba Khin outlining the salient aspects of Vipassana, the Buddha’s teachings.   ‘The Art of Living’ written by William Hart is considered the closest explanation of what the Buddha really discovered and taught: Vipassana meditation.  Since I am referring specifically to Vipassana Meditation taught by S.N. Goenka in the tradition of U Ba Khin, I have mainly referred to these two books, along with other articles, brochures and videotapes to illustrate Vipassana.

 

Sayagyi U Ba Khin, in “What Buddhism Is” emphasizes that the teaching of the Buddha is a system of philosophy rooted in a code of morality, mental and physical (Khin, 1973).  His teaching is also called ‘Dhamma’ which means ‘law’ as it is the ‘law of nature’ that the Buddha, through his own efforts and perseverance discovered through self-introspection (Hart, 1987, p.14).  It is a law that is applicable to all, and it is for every person to experience and rediscover the law or reality for him/herself by the practice of Vipassana. For this reason, Hart clarifies that Vipassana is non-sectarian and is not ‘Buddhism’ as Buddha did not profess any religion or dogmatic beliefs.

 

The crux of the Buddha’s teachings lies in the Four Noble Truths.  They refer to the Truths that ennoble a person who realizes them (Indasara, 1980, 1).

 

Khin explains the Four Noble Truths as:

 

(i) Dukkha Sacca      : Truth of Suffering

(ii) Samudaya Sacca : Truth of Origin of Suffering

(iii) Nirodha Sacca     : Truth of Extinction of Suffering

(iv) Magga Sacca     : Truth of Path leading to the Extinction of Suffering.

 

The First Noble Truth is that life is a struggle and suffering (Dukkha in Pali).  Dukkha or suffering not only refers to the suffering of sickness, old age, death etc., but it is also the suffering one experiences by developing attachments.  As explained by Hart, [At a very deep level suffering is the inordinate attachment that each one of us has developed towards this body and this mind, with its cognitions, perceptions, sensations and reactions.  People cling strongly to their identity- their mental and physical being, when actually there are only evolving processes.  This clinging to an unreal idea of oneself, to something that in fact is constantly changing, is suffering.](1987, 46).

 

The Second Noble Truth is that the origin of Dukkha is ‘tanha’ (Khin, 1973).  Tanha literally means ‘thirst’ or the reaction of mind when it interacts with matter, with either craving or aversion; Craving or longing for what is not, which immediately results in aversion or dissatisfaction with what is (Hart, 1987, 38).

 

The Third Noble Truth states that the cause or the origin of suffering can be terminated, and the path to terminating it is the Fourth Noble Truth, the Path or practical steps one must follow which will lead to the extinction of suffering.  This Path is the Noble Eight Fold Path that the Buddha taught.  It is divided into three main stages:

 

Sila, or Precept: Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood

Samadhi, or Equanimity of Mind: Right Exertion, Right Attentiveness, Right Concentration

 

Panna, or Wisdom-Insight: Right Aspiration, Right Understanding (Khin, 1973,25)

 

It is this development of Wisdom or Insight (Vipassana) into one’s own nature that leads to the elimination of the origin of suffering.  Vipassana meditation thus leads to ultimate truth realization.  One experiences this truth within oneself, through self-introspection in order to finally attain ‘Nirvana’, the Truth of Freedom from Suffering.  (Hart, 1987, 16).

 

The path, however, must be followed, and the teachings practiced continually and diligently, in order to benefit from these; mere intellectual understanding or having faith in the teachings will not free anyone from the suffering.  (Hart, 1987, 17).

To learn the technique of Vipassana meditation, it is necessary to take a ten-day residential course under a qualified teacher.  Hill of Dhamma (1996) the introductory videotape to Vipassana explains that for the duration of the course, meditators maintain complete silence, and live an introverted life.  They remain within the boundaries of the Vipassana Center, have no contact with the outside world, and refrain from reading and writing.

 

Sayagyi S.N.Goenka explains the steps in Vipassana in these words (Sayagyi Goenka, 2000)-

 

[There are three steps to the training which is given in a Vipassana course.  First, one must abstain from any action, physical or vocal, which disturbs the peace and harmony of others.  One cannot work to liberate oneself from defilements in the mind while at the same time continuing to perform deeds of body and speech, which only multiply those defilements.  Therefore a code of morality is essential first step of practice [Sila].  One undertakes not to kill, not to steal, not to commit sexual misconduct, not to speak lies, and not to use intoxicants.  By abstaining from such actions, one allows the mind to quite down.

 

The next step is to develop some mastery over this wild mind [Samadhi, also called Anapana meditation]; by training it to remain fixed on a single object, the breath.  One tries to keep one’s attention on the respiration for as long as possible.  This is not a breathing exercise; one does not regulate the breath.  Instead one observes the natural respiration as it is, as it comes in, as it goes out.  In this way one further calms the mind, so that it is no longer overpowered by the violent negativities.  At the same time, one is concentrating the mind, making it sharp and penetrating, capable of the work of insight.

 

These two steps of living a moral life and controlling the mind are very necessary and beneficial in themselves.  But they will lead to self-repression unless one takes the third step: purifying the mind of defilements, by developing insight into one’s own nature [Panna].  This, really, is Vipassana: experiencing one’s own reality, through the systematic and dispassionate observation of the ever-changing mind-matter phenomenon manifesting itself as sensations within oneself.  This is the culmination of the teaching of the Buddha: self-purification through self-observation.]

 

This practice has a corrective influence on deep-rooted habits.  Whatever arises in the mind, be it anger, fear, insecurity, passion or sadness, is associated with certain internal body sensations.  One begins to realize how the mind reacts with craving and aversion to bodily sensations on a conscious as well as sub conscious level.  Through objective observation, one starts gaining deeper insight into one’s own nature and stops reacting blindly.  Observing these sensations in a detached/impersonal manner helps the individual handle these emotions in a calm and balanced manner.  With continued practice of Vipassana, the mind becomes free of defilements and gets purified. 

 

Complete silence is observed for the first nine days.  On the tenth day, students resume speaking, making the transition back to an extroverted way of life.  The course concludes on the morning of the eleventh day.

 

Anyone can learn this technique free of charge, as all expenses of the courses are met with the donations from people who have already completed a course, and having experienced the benefits of Vipassana, wish to give others the opportunity to also benefit.

 

Vipassana enables one to experience peace and harmony: it purifies the mind, freeing it from suffering and the deep-seated causes of suffering.  The practice leads step-by-step to the highest spiritual goal of full liberation from all mental defilements.

 

 

6. Vipassana and Prison Reform

 

6.1 Vipassana and Prisoners

 

Crime, like any act of the body, is a manifestation of thoughts in the mind.  It is when the mind is full of negativity, and loses its balance, an unwholesome, or wrong act is performed.  Criminals portray a higher degree of hostility, frustration and helplessness, which perhaps lead to criminal behavior.  There are many studies that indicate that the harsh prison environment and the attitude of the prison staff towards the inmates increase their instability and have negative psychological effects on them.  Prisoners exhibit a higher degree of anxiety, aggression, guilt, hostility and neuroticism which adds to their stress in the prison (Osofsky, 1996).  Therefore, prison reform measures should be able to reduce these feelings in the prisoners so that they become more balanced, better human beings.

 

It was with this purpose of dealing with the emotional and psychological problems of prison inmates that Dr.  Kiran Bedi, the then Inspector General of Tihar Jail introduced Vipassana in Prisons.  Her strong conviction in ‘offender rehabilitation’, rather than punishment, spearheaded many fundamental and systemic changes in Tihar.  Improving living conditions of the inmates, providing better facilities, dealing with corruption, ensuring improved medical services were all a part of the reform measures.  To ensure that the inmates used their time in the prison usefully and productively, various educational and vocational programs became an integral part of the prison, which helped in building community as well as developing their personality in a positive manner. 

 

However, none of these efforts could deal with the deep mental problems and emotional baggage the prisoners carried with them.  Unable to address these psychological issues and ‘to get the inmates rid themselves of corrosive emotions’, Dr. Bedi decided to try Vipassana, which had been suggested by one of her subordinates as a solution (Bedi, 1998, 297).  She first sent some of the angriest members of her staff to attend a ten-day course, and noticing the remarkable peaceful change that it brought in them on their return, became convinced to introduce this technique in the prison. 

 

The first Vipassana course was held in Prison No. 2, which housed the long-term convicted inmates.  The positive effect it had on the inmates was evident by their testimonies. 

 

“Before undergoing this Vipassana meditation course, I was polluting my mind with feelings of taking revenge...but now, after the course, all my negative feelings have disappeared.  I shall not take revenge on anyone.”- Om Prakash Bairwa (Bedi, 1998, 302).

 

A course for 1000 inmates was conducted by S.N. Goenka in April 1994 following the phenomenal success of this course.  This led to the establishment of a permanent center within Tihar for regular practice of Vipassana.  “Doing Time, Doing Vipassana”, an award winning video made by two Israeli filmmakers documents the initiation of Vipassana in prison reform.  David, a Canadian inmate of the prison, quotes in the film:

 

 “This is history in the making you know…this is the first chance where Vipassana is being used in a prison system to possibly reform people…this could reform the whole prison system on the entire planet…”

 

His words are ringing true, as Vipassana has now spread to all prisons in India, and to New Zealand, Taiwan, Thailand, the U.K. and the United States. 

 

6.2.  Vipassana in the Unites States and Other Countries

 

In the United States, incarceration has always been a debatable issue, with both advocates of rehabilitation as well as those who support punishment receiving criticism.  In a culture where introspective meditation techniques are still considered ‘Eastern’ and not a part of the mainstream thinking, it is noteworthy that Vipassana is being acknowledged as a tool for rehabilitation.  By putting the responsibility of reform on the prisoners and equipping them with the tool to effectuate inner change, Vipassana has been successful in providing an alternative to external methods of prison reform.  Although just a handful of prisons in the US have introduced Vipassana, its success and positive results are paving a path for it to help more and more prisoners in the future.

 

The first Vipassana course in the US was held at the North Rehabilitation Facility (NRF) of the King County Jail System in Seattle, Washington in 1997.  Lucia Meijer, the NRF administrator, has been instrumental in introducing it in North American prisons.  After doing a course herself, she overcame the many administrative, security, and facilities hurdles to arrange the first Vipassana course.  A documentary titled “Changing from Inside” shows how the course has improved the discipline, relations between the staff and inmates and also their relationship with their families.  Through experience the course organizers learnt that having pre-course orientations played an important role in preparing the inmates and reducing drop out rates.  Since participation in a course is voluntary, the prisoners were given an opportunity to talk to the Vipassana teachers, other prisoners who have been Vipassana meditators (if any), and also see videos relates to Vipassana in prisons as mentioned before.  Hindering factors like illiteracy, learning disabilities, doubts regarding cultural and religious identification, could all be overcome by these orientations  (http://www.prison.dhamma.org/ussummary.htm).

 

From 1997 to August 2002, until the NRF closed down due to lack of funds, more than 20 courses were organized at NRF with a total of 130 men and 60 women having attended at least one course.  In 2002 a Vipassana recidivism study was carried out by the NRF Programs Director Dave Murphy.  The study indicates that only 2 out of 4 Vipassana prisoners returned to jail as compared to 3 out of 4 non-Vipassana prisoners.  When Mr. S.N. Goenka visited the NRF in 2002, many of the inmates expressed their gratitude and shared their experiences.

 

“Every day I see changes in myself in how I relate to people, in my own peace of mind, in how I handle situations.”

 

“I have not been in one bit of trouble since I’ve been out (of prison).  I’ve followed the path of right speech, right action, right thought.  I’ve taken care of business and made the practice of Vipassana my dhamma.”

 

A research funded by The National Institute of Health, to determine the effect of Vipassana on curbing drug and alcohol addiction and reducing recidivism is being conducted by the University of Washington.  It will be completed in 2003.

Apart from NRF, the W.E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Alabama, a maximum-security state prison, and San Francisco Jail no.3 in San Bruno California, have also arranged for Vipassana to be taught to their inmates.  As of April 2003, prisons in New Zealand, Taiwan, Thailand, Spain, and also Mexico have had Vipassana courses with positive results. 

 

6.3 The Effect of Vipassana on Prison Inmates

 

An informal survey carried out by Tarsem Kumar, the jail superintendent of Tihar, among the meditators as well as their colleagues indicated that Vipassana had been very beneficial for them.  They had better relations with their fellow inmates and jail staff, were more focused on the present than their past, showed significant improvement in controlling their negative emotions like anger, hatred, revenge etc.  A higher degree of positive emotions like kindness, compassion, tolerance, peacefulness could be seen (Dangwal, 2001, 244).

 

Chandiramani, Verma and Dhar were the first to assess the impact of Vipassana on the mental health of the prison inmates in Tihar by using standardized psychological tests. They carried out two separate studies in January and April 1994 on the following psychological parameters:

 

(i) Impact on psychiatric illness

(ii) Impact on some positive aspects of mental health, i.e., hopefulness and sense of well-being.

(iii) Impact on hostility and feelings of helplessness

(iv) Impact on anomie (sense of alienation from mainstream life) and attitude to law

(v) Impact on personality functioning and psychopathy.

 

The findings affirmed that Vipassana does lead to significant reduction in anxiety and depression.  The researchers in fact emphasized that there were many advantages to using Vipassana in prisons to deal with the inmates’ psychiatric problems as the existing facilities were not enough to handle the magnitude of psychiatric issues, Vipassana is a good alternate to conventional non-drug psychiatric treatment, it is very cost-effective and well accepted by the prisoners, and can provide support even after the inmates are released through the various Vipassana centers located everywhere. 

 

There was a significant improvement in most of the parameters studied.  However some of them, like the feeling of hopefulness, and the decrease in hostility, could not be sustained in all cases as observed in the follow-up phase.  This pointed to a need to correct the hindering factors which were present in the prison system.  Efforts were made to ensure continuity of practice and more support from the prison staff towards the prisoners.

 

Also, the research was unable to distinguish between the meditators who practiced regularly and the ones who did not, which may further dilute the results.

 

Another study was carried out by Khurana and Dhar of Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 1999 assessing the effect of Vipassana on Quality of Life, subjective well-being and criminal propensity among inmates of Tihar jail.  As explained by the researchers, subjective well-being is a “mental state which helps a person to maintain equilibrium, anchored by hope and optimism, even in adversity.”  Criminal propensity refers to the underlying characteristics of aggression, impulsiveness, self-control or conditionality which determines the probability of committing criminal acts.  The subjects were unable to comprehend the Quality of Life questionnaire, so this was withdrawn and the study was carried out only on the remaining two aspects.  A series of 5 studies using both before-and-after as well as control group experimental designs was conducted on a total of 262 inmates. 

 

The study concluded that the level of criminal propensity came down and the subjective well-being went up after practicing Vipassana.  Although there was a significant statistical difference between the scores on criminal propensity of the male inmates of Vipassana group and those of the control group, indicating that Vipassana reduces criminal attributes, this was not true for the female inmates.  The female meditators scored higher then the control group on criminal propensity but showed increase in positive emotions such as hopefulness, self-control, conformity, compassion, and mental peace after doing Vipassana.  The reason for this contradiction could be that even though the female inmates were familiar with the practice of Vipassana, they were not regularly practicing it.  If there is no continuity of the practice, then it is probable that the desired effects are not seen in the meditators.

 

On studying a select group of inmates who had done several Vipassana courses, a higher degree of positive changes in their personality and attitude towards life was noted, establishing that sustained and regular practice of Vipassana brings about deeper and more permanent positive changes. 

 

6.4 Vipassana and Police and Jail Staff

 

Vipassana as a technique for prison reform is not just restricted to the prisoners, but also all the supporting personnel who are in contact with the prisoners and who play a significant role in their reform.  This includes the police as well as the prison staff who come in contact with the prisoners on a day-to-day basis.  Regular Vipassana courses are also organized for the police personnel with an aim to sensitize them towards the prisoners, so that they can develop a more humane and supportive attitude towards the inmates, and create an environment conducive to their reform. 

 

Vipassana meditation was first introduced by Kiran Bedi for Delhi police personnel in January 1999.  Positive feedback from the course resulted in subsequent courses being organized and now there is a Vipassana meditation center in the premises of the Police Training College in Delhi.  Twenty-four courses have been held between January 1999 and June 2002, with more than 3,500 police staff having benefited from them (Arya, 2002).

 

The Indian police system has a very hierarchical organizational structure.  Senior officers demonstrate authoritarian attitudes towards their subordinates and use coercion and threats to boss over them.  (Singh-Sengupta, 1999:2000, p.46).  In dealing with the public, the police use autocratic measures, and misuse the power of their ‘uniform’, thus gaining a negative image among the public.  The public does not view the police as just, and does not trust them to uphold the law.  Along with this poor image, the police have the stressful job of dealing with increasing problems of terrorism, crime, etc.  A study carried out by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) pointed to depression, alcoholism, substance abuse, dysthimia, anxiety as common problems observed in the police.  Long working hours, tense relationships among police staff, lack of time with family, conflicting orders from superiors were some of the reasons for job dissatisfaction.  Although the police were trained on the theoretical aspects of the law, they lacked the understanding of how to apply the law as a part of their job.  Vipassana was introduced by Dr. Kiran Bedi with the hope to instill the values that a police officer needs to carry out his/her responsibilities (Agrawal, R.K. and Bedi, K., April 2001).

 

A study conducted by Kiran Bedi and Rakesh Agarwal illustrates that Vipassana helped the police develop a more compassionate and friendly attitude towards prisoners, and made them more honest and conscientious in their duties (Agrawal, R.K. and Bedi, K., April 2001).

 

 Another study carried out by Dhar and Khurana along with Bedi tested the impact of Vipassana meditation on the aspects of subjective well being, job anxiety, and locus of control of police personnel.  Psychological tests were administered on 1021 police personnel over a period of one year and the statistical data generated was analyzed subsequently.  The study concluded that subjects’, level of job anxiety decreased considerably.  The subjective well being of the respondents also increased considerably.  The locus of control factor, however, did not change as expected and the results showed that Vipassana meditation had a negligible role to play in the dimensions of locus of control (Bedi, K., Dhar, P.L. & Khurana, A. 2001). 

 

 

7.  FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

 

As mentioned earlier, I interviewed 28 persons, which included police and jail staff, current prisoners, released prisoners and also community members.  To a large extent the interviews were structured, where I asked each person a set of questions and either recorded the interviews or took notes.  Being face-to-face interviews, many additional questions and conversations took place so that the interviewee could elaborate, clarify and relate information appropriately.  Most of the questions relating to Vipassana were common to everyone, while some additional questions needed to be asked to each group pertaining to their particular situation.

 

The common questions that I asked were:

Name : (optional)

Age :

Gender :

Designation :

How many Vipassana Meditation courses have you done?      

How often do you practice Vipassana?

Can you describe your experience of V.M.? What have you learnt from VM?

What changes has it brought about in you?

Can you describe any incidents where Vipassana has helped you?

10.  Do you think Vipassana should be used as a reform measure in prisons?

 

The first 4 questions were put to get factual information about the interviewees.  The 5th and 6th questions were asked to understand their background as it relates to Vipassana.  Since Vipassana is purely based on experience, it was important to know whether what they felt was more intellectually understood or by experience.

 

Questions 7, 8, and 9 were questions pertaining to Vipassana, their experience, what they learnt and the changes they felt within themselves.  Many of the interviewees’ responses to these questions overlapped, or rather they had the same response.  For example, when I asked the question ‘What have you learnt from Vipassana?’ some respondents also spoke about how it changed them.  Yet, I did not eliminate any of the questions, as I observed that putting forth questions in different ways helped elicit more information from them.  Therefore, in elaborating the findings and analysis, I have combined the three questions together.  Informally, questions regarding practice of other meditation techniques, effect on environment, fellow colleagues were also asked.  Responses to these have been included in questions 7, 8, and 9.  

 

The additional questions addressed to the prisoners in jail are (Appendix A):

·        Educational background

·        How long have you been in prison

·        Has Vipassana Meditation helped you in jail? How?

·        Does VM help you in your personal relationships? In dealing with other people? Your fellow inmates, jail staff, your own family? How?

·        Would you recommend others to do VM? How can it be supported in prisons?

 

Questions to the released prisoners (Appendix B):

·        Have you been to jail?

·        How much time did you spend in prison?

·        Has Vipassana helped you once you left prison? In what way?

 

Questions to community members (Appendix C):

·        What are your observations of the effects of Vipassana, if any, on the released prisoners?

·        Do you think Vipassana has helped them reintegrate better in the society?

 

Questions to police and jail staff (Appendix D):

·        What challenges, if any, do you face in your job?

·        Has Vipassana helped you in your job? If yes, How?

·        Have you seen any effect of VM in prisoners? Please describe.

 

 

The questionnaires have been included in the Appendices section of this paper. 

 

7.1 Vipassana and Prison Inmates

 

I interviewed 8 prisoners from Tihar Jail, Delhi; all male convicts as well as under trials and 7 women prisoners in the Nagpur prison.  All those interviewed in Tihar had attended Vipassana courses more than once and were also practicing the technique regularly.  However, only two prisoners in Nagpur were practicing Vipassana, exposure to which they had received about a year earlier.  The response of those who had practiced the technique was strikingly different from those who had not, and literature has repeatedly shown that this meditation technique plays a role only when regularly practiced.  Hence the following discussion takes into account only those who have made Vipassana a part of their daily lives.

 

Has Vipassana Meditation helped you in jail?

 

Most of the respondents said that Vipassana had helped them to remain in balance and in control of their anger and irritability.  Some of the inmates confessed that being in prison, they felt very anxious about their future, what will happen to them, what they will do once they are released.  They felt that they were able to manage these feelings of helplessness to a large extent due to Vipassana, as it taught them to concentrate more on the present, and also instilled more positivity in their thinking.

 

“Earlier, I used to get very anxious to know what will happen to me, and if things did not go according to expectations, I would feel very depressed, now I do not get depressed and take it more calmly.”

 

Feelings of revenge, hatred and ill-will that they harbored have subsided, and now many admitted to having compassion and good feelings for others too.  One of the interviewees mentioned that Vipassana has increased his confidence, made him more alert and active, and he feels there is a 100% increase in his efficiency.  For him there is no room for negativity anymore.  Many felt that Vipassana helped them have better relationships with other colleagues.  With Vipassana, they were able to develop strength of mind and keep away from bad habits and bad company of drug peddlers etc. 

 

“I have become stronger, and keep away from people who engage in dirty dealings, who take drugs, now I am not afraid of them.”

 

Some have adopted Vipassana as a way of life, and hope to adopt it completely after they are released from jail.  The ones who had seriously practiced Vipassana and understood its merits were hopeful to benefit from it after they leave the prison environment too.  Many wished to go back to their families, friends and community and encourage them to attend Vipassana courses too. 

 

7.2 Vipassana and Released Prisoners

 

Due to practical problems in contacting released prisoners, I was able to talk only to 4 released prisoners.  Three of them had been addicts and came from a substance abuse background.  All had spent some time in jail for some crime. 

 

One of the released criminal that I spoke to had spent 5 years in jail having been accused in a murder case.  He did his first Vipassana course while in prison.  Although initially it was a difficult experience as he experienced a lot of physical pain, he says that as the pain began leaving his body, he felt lighter and more peaceful in his heart.  He went on to serve another course in the jail, and after his release from prison in April 2002, attended another Vipassana course.  With Vipassana, he says that his feelings of ill will and revenge against his opponents have gone away, and now he has only benevolent feelings for them.  In fact he admits approaching them after his release and asking for forgiveness.  Vipassana has made him realize the true nature of his mind, and he says that it eradicates the negative feelings and fills the mind with compassion, love and goodwill towards others.  Having been so strongly affected by Vipassana, even his community members noticed a lot of difference in him, and a few on his advice attended a Vipassana course.  He has been able to guide and request his village members to give up smoking, drinking drawing from his experience of Vipassana.

  

I visited Navjyoti, a de-addiction center in New Delhi that runs residential programs for addicts mainly from a criminal background, hoping to get contacts of released prisoners.  I interviewed 3 people with a criminal background who had undergone the de-addiction program at Navjyoti and even done Vipassana courses.  I also got the opportunity to interview and talk to the staff members including the senior doctor and social worker who had been associated with the institution for more that 15 years to learn about their observations about effects of Vipassana on the recovered addicts.

 

All the 3 Vipassana meditators from Navjyoti had done Vipassana after being released from jail.  They believed that Vipassana had helped them leave their addiction.  One of them, who had been a hardened criminal having spent 10 years in jail at one time, and then repeated shorter stays, had a totally transformed personality.  About his transformation, he said “the difference between me now and then is like night and day”.  Vipassana has had a very powerful effect on him, and he had done 3 courses within 2 years.  Talking about his personality before he did Vipassana, he says

 

“I was such a person that I would never listen to anyone, would do exactly as I would please, and had a lot of anger, was very egoistic, did not have cordial relations with family, or anyone.”

 

But having done Vipassana he says his personality has undergone a transformation.  It has helped him get balance of mind; get more control over his mind.  There is no longer hypocrisy in him, and on the contrary he has become more empathetic about others’ thoughts and feelings.  His relationships with his family, have improved considerably, and now he feels he is able to live his life like a responsible person and tend to his duties.  The greatest benefit that he derived from Vipassana is

“That my entire body feels very light, I get extra energy inside myself, I get more active, no tension, I get very balanced.  I get a deep insight into my own nature.  I don’t let myself wander, if a person is able to control his mind, then he has won the entire universe, and Vipassana teaches you this.”

 

Even the staff at Navjyoti is surprised by the changes they see in him.  One staff member, who has worked with him says that he did not expect him to improve or reform to this extent.  After Vipassana he has seen a more determined change in him to correct himself and work on himself.

 

“(He) was a hardcore criminal a strong addict.  We had no hope that he would become alright because he had a very long background of theft and pick pocketing.  But today he is a changed person.  Although there is still scope for him to improve as at times he gets tempted to do wrong, but we notice that he realizes and says ‘no’.  This I feel is the effect of Vipassana.  This change has come only after Vipassana.”

 

In each of the addicts, Vipassana has not only brought about a behavioral change, but it has also helped them keep away from drugs.  One of the addicts admits to have tried various methods since a few years to give up his habits.  But after Vipassana, his resolve has become stronger, and he has been able to stay clean.  All of them feel that Vipassana is very important because it gives them an insight into their own nature.  This is one of the greatest benefits they have experienced.  They feel that it is very important for them to understand their own nature so that they can get better control over themselves.