JMVRI Issue No. 16 contains three original research papers. The first by Dr Michael King, titled “Courts’ Response to Trauma and Application of the Transcendental Meditation Technique” (pp. 11-36), considers the role Transcendental Meditation might play in jurisprudence and sentencing because it produces a unique state of restful alertness and its regular practice alleviates the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder in a variety of traumatised populations, promotes psychological growth and more positive behaviour, and reduces offender recidivism. Court programs have explored its use in small offender rehabilitation programs, but should, according to Dr King, consider its wider application to address the trauma of the criminal justice system and the secondary trauma and stress of court professionals.
The second paper by founding MVRI director, Dr Geoffrey Wells, is titled “Scholarship and Maharishi Vedic Science: Some Reflections” (pp. 37-62). This original research paper considers the standard principles of scholarship in academic writing and reading, and explores how these principles relate and can be applied to scholarship in Maharishi Vedic Science. Dr Wells argues that a new, expanded view of scholarship emerges from this analysis, and he highlights two key principles of scholarship in Maharishi Vedic Science which were identified and encouraged by Maharishi and have been applied by teachers and scholars since the 1980s.
The third paper, “Long-Term Practice of the Transcendental Meditation Technique in Puno, Perú: A Five-Level Exploratory Model of Theory and Research” (pp. 63-94), is by Lee Fergusson, Javier Ortiz Cabrejos, and Anna Bonshek. This research is the product of MVRI working collaboratively with Instituto Maharishi de Ciencia y Tecnología del Perú in Lima, and is one of the first of its kind to investigate the practice of Transcendental Meditation in Latin America. Using a qualitative approach to explore the practice in Perú, the paper reports the experiences in Puno of six long-term practitioners of Transcendental Meditation who have practiced the technique for an average of 15 years.
JMVRI Issue Number 16
JMVRI Paper 16.1
Courts’ Responses to Trauma and Application of the Transcendental Meditation Technique
Author: Michael King
This paper can be downloaded via the following link:
Citation: King, M. S. (2021). Courts’ responses to trauma and application of the Transcendental Meditation technique. Journal of Maharishi Vedic Research Institute, 16, 11-36.
Summary (excerpt):
The court system is one of society’s principal mechanisms for processing the consequences of trauma. Traumatic events may arise from criminal behaviour or give rise to civil proceedings and those coming before the courts as parties such as defendants or victims may have dysfunction in a number of life domains due to unresolved trauma from the past. Historically courts have failed to use processes sensitive to the effects of trauma and have consequently in some cases retraumatised people, particularly victims of crime. Professionals working in courts have been subjected to secondary trauma through exposure to traumatic cases. Courts are addressing trauma by using innovative processes, including connecting those with trauma-related needs to appropriate treatment and support services and by using more sensitive court processes.
Additional avenues to address trauma need to be explored. For example, research has found that the practice of the stress-reduction and self-development technique, the Transcendental Meditation technique, produces a unique state of restful alertness and that its regular practice alleviates the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder in a variety of traumatised populations, promotes psychological growth and more positive behaviour, and reduces offender recidivism. To date court programs have only explored its use in small offender rehabilitation programs. Courts should consider its wider use to address the trauma of parties and the secondary trauma and stress of court professionals.