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Effect of Vipassana Meditation on Quality of life, Subjective well-being, and Criminal Propensity among inmates of Tihar jail, Delhi

Final report submitted to Vipassana Research Institute by
Dr Amulya Khurana and Prof. P. L. Dhar
Indian Institute of Technology,New Delhi-110016
June 2000

Executive Summary:
This study aimed at investigating the effect of Vipassana Meditation (VM) on Quality of Life (QOL), Subjective Well-Being (SWB), and Criminal Propensity (CP) among inmates of Tihar Jail, Delhi. To this effect the following hypotheses were formulated.
1. There will be a significant positive effect of VM on the QOL of inmates of Tihar jail.
2. VM will have a positive and significant effect on SWB of inmates.
3. Criminal propensity (CP) of inmates will decrease significantly after attending the VM course.
4. There will be significant difference in SWB and CP of experimental (Vipassana) group and control (non-Vipassana) group.
5. Male and female inmates will differ significantly in SWB and CP, as a result of VM.

The total sample comprised 262 inmates (males = 232, female = 30). A series of 5 studies were conducted using both before-and-after as well as control group experimental designs.
The independent variable was Vipassana meditation. The dependent variables were: Quality of life (QOL), Subjective Well-Being (SWB), and Criminal Propensity (CP). Life Satisfaction Scale (PGI, Chandigarh), Subjective Well-Being Scale (Nagpal & Sell, 1985), and Criminal Propensity Scale (Sanyal & Kathpalia, 1999) were used to collect data. Student's 't' test
was used for data analysis.
The following conclusions represent the findings of the study:
1. The first hypothesis did not come as was expected. Since the questionnaire was difficult for the prisoners to understand, this questionnaire was dropped from the later studies.
2. The second and third hypothesis were accepted since the level of criminal propensity came down and that of subjective well being went up after the inmates attended the Vipassana meditation courses.
3. The fourth hypothesis was also accepted, as the experimental (Vipassana) group's CP decreased and SWB increased significantly as compared to control (non-Vipassana) group, among male inmates.
4. VM seems to have similar effect on SWB and CP of participants irrespective of their gender.
Thus, the fifth hypothesis was not accepted as the male and female inmates did not differ significantly in SWB and CP, as a result of VM.
The results obtained supported the hypotheses to a large extent, though not all the results are significant. Vipassana meditation significantly improved Subjective well being and reduced Criminal propensity of inmates of Tihar Jail.

Acknowledgements

We thankfully acknowledge the help received from the following:
Shri S.N.Goenka, the main force behind Vipassana movement in India and abroad. Vipassana Research Institute, Mumbai, for financial support Vipassana Sadhana Sansthan, Delhi for general support.

We would like to express our gratitude to The Addl DG (prisons) Mr. Ajay Agarwal, DIG (prisons) Mr. Jaidev Sarangi, the Superintendents and the Deputy Superintendents of Jails, No 1, 4, and 5 for their kind cooperation which enabled
us to conduct this study.
We would also like to express our sincere thanks to Mr. Pravin Bhalla, Mr. Ajit Gupta, Mrs. Laj Tandon, Mrs. Sushila Dhar, and Mrs. Tanushree Tripathy for helping in data collection.
Thanks are also due to Mr. Bibhudutta Baral, who worked as a Project Associate in this study, for his assistance in data collection, data analysis and preparation of the project report.
And last, but not the least, to all those inmates of Tihar Jail who participated in the study and filled out the lengthy questionnaires ungrudgingly, we express our heartfelt thanks and wish that they would come out of their suffering through the practice of Vipassana.

(Amulya Khurana) (P. L. Dhar)
Associate Professor Professor & Head
Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
IIT, Delhi IIT, Delhi

1. Introduction
1.1. Review of Literature
1.2. Vipassana meditation: An introduction
2. About the study
2.1. Objectives
2.2. Hypotheses
3. Method of Study
3.1. Research design
3.2. Sample
3.3. Tools
3.4. Statistical analysis
4. Results and Discussion
5. Conclusion
6. Limitations of Study
7. Suggestions for future Research
8. References

Appendices

Introduction

Crimes are acts that are forbidden and punished by law; these acts may threaten the well- being of the society, or injure any of its members. People are most likely to commit a criminal act between the age of fifteen and twenty five years. Imprisonment is a method of dealing with people who commit crimes by confining them to a fortified boundary with certain strict rules for all - that
is, the prison. Crime, like any other action of the body, is a manifestation of thoughts in the mind.

Crime has come to be regarded as essentially a social problem, and retribution as the object of improvement is discarded. Detention as an objective of imprisonment is also very limited in scope. Reformation of the offender is being regarded as an ultimate aim of the prison sentence. Rehabilitation of the criminals has become one of the most important objectives of the jail
authorities. Apart from the criminal aspect, many inmates manifest mental disorders in prison as a result of stresses of incarceration. The stresses behind the bars include separation from their family members, over crowding, sensory deprivation, exposure to a high-density of hard-core offenders and a variety of uncertainties, fear, and frustrations. The period of trial is of great stress to the individual. Loss of social status, uncertainty of outcome of the trial, fear of punishment, staying in an unusual place like police station or jail and the financial upsets harass the individual. If the trial period is prolonged for months or years which is very common, then the undertrial's mental condition becomes bad. The hard life in the prison further aggravates the situation. The undertrial's quality of life and subjective well-being are seriously affected by aforesaid conditions in the prison.
Psychological factors such as frustration, hostility, and feelings of helplessness might be the cause or the consequence of criminal behaviour and in some cases, both. Prison reform measures should lead to some reduction in inmate's feelings of hostility, helplessness and other negative emotions. Vipassana is being practiced in Tihar jail as a prison reform measure with the
ultimate goal of prevention of crime and reintegration of prisoners into mainstream society following their discharge from prison. An unfavourable attitude towards law may be responsible for criminal behaviour and needs to be corrected in the course of reforms. On many occasions it is the feeling of alienation from the mainstream life which results from a misfit of individual goals
with cultural norms and it might result in criminal activities.

Since Vipassana (VM) is believed to be a technique that facilitates deeper psychological introspection and to bring about lasting behavioural changes, it was considered worth while to assess some of these changes in a scientific manner. The main aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of Vipassana meditation on Subjective Well-Being and Criminal Propensity
of Tihar Jail inmates. The study has been conducted on both male (adolescent) and female inmates. Also one of the goals was to see the overall psychological bearing of Vipassana meditation on prison inmates.

Vipassana is a genuine non-sectarian methodology for mind control and purification. The question arises what for Vipassana be practised in prison. Prison life is a cursed life. In traditional sense, it is the worst life in every sense. It blocks the overall unfolding of personality. It takes away freedom from the individual. For the inmates life inside prison is bizarre, torturous, painful, unhealthy, suffocating and slave like. The purpose is to make prison life better, to add a humanistic dimension to it, to help the inmates introspect and examine themselves and possibly understand the purpose of life better. Vipassana as a meditational technique is dedicated to fulfill these higher goals of life. It is believed that Vipassana has a great role to play in transforming prison life.

The positive impact of Vipassana on various aspects of mental health and personality has been reported in a number of studies and it was therefore expected that similar results would come in the case of inmates.

The technique of Vipassana is basically a path leading to freedom from all sufferings: it uproots craving, aversion and ignorance, which are the basic cause for all our miseries. Those who practise it remove , little by little, the root causes of their sufferings and steadily emerge from the darkness of former tensions to lead happy, healthy, productive lives. There are many examples bearing testimony to this fact. Several experiments have been conducted at prisons in India. In 1975, Goenkaji conducted a course for 120 inmates at the Central Jail in Jaipur, the first such experiment in Indian penal history. This course was followed in 1976 by a course for senior police officers at the Government Police Academy in Jaipur. In 1977, a second course was held at the Jaipur Central Jail. These courses were the subject of several sociological studies conducted by the University of Rajasthan. In 1990, another course was organised in Jaipur Central Jail in which forty life-term convicts and ten jail officials participated with positive results. In 1991, a course for life-sentence prisoners was held at the Savaramati Central Jail, Ahmedabad, and was
the subject of a research project by the Dept. of Education, Gujrat Vidyapeeth. The Rajasthan and Gujrat studies indicated definite positive changes in the attitude and behaviour of the participants, and showed that Vipassana is a positive reform measure enabling criminals to become wholesome members of society.

Vipassana was introduced in Tihar Jail in November 1993 when the first course was organized in Central Jail No. 2, where 96 convicts and 20 staff/officers of jail participated. Its success led to a succession of courses, including the largest ever Vipassana course of over 1000 prisoners in April 1994. This was followed by setting up of a regular Vipassana centre inside
Central Jail No. 4, where two courses are held every month till date. A detailed investigation into effect of Vipassana on inmates was undertaken under the aegis of department of Psychiatry, AIIMS in 1994 and its results were very encouraging. Two
studies were carried out in 1994. The first study was carried out on 120 subjects in January 1994.

The dimensions studied were well being, hostility, hope, helplessness, personality, psychopathy and in the case of psychiatric disorders, anxiety and depression. It was followed by another study which was carried out in April 1994 on 150 subjects. The sample consisted of two groups: one group of 85 subjects who attended a 10 day Vipassana course and the other group of 65 who did not. The dimensions studied were anomie, attitude to law, personality and psychiatric illness.

Immediately after the course, the subjects were found to be less hostile towards their environment and felt less helpless. The psychiatric patients, constituting about 23% of the total sample, reported good improvement in their anxiety and depressive symptoms. Subjects without any psychological symptoms also reported improvement in the form of enhanced well being and a
sense of hope for the future. Their sense of alienation from the mainstream life, though unchanged immediately after the course, was found to be lower after three months. The follow-up evaluations at three and six month intervals revealed further improvement on many of these dimensions. The Vipassana Research Institute has documented other examples of the positive
impact of Vipassana in such fields as health, education, drug addiction, and business management.

1.1 Review of Literature:
A number of studies have been carried out to investigate prison life. A brief description of these studies is given below.
Krishna (1993) reports the presence of neuroticism, anxiety, extraversion, and morality guilt among adolescents who are high on delinquent behaviour. She says that there are positive relationships between delinquent behaviour and these personality factors. Osofsky (1996) reveals the presence of certain psychological or personality factors exhibited by prisoners and the
importance of these in creating more stress within the prisons. These factors are neuroticism, anxiety, aggression, hostility, and guilt. It has been found that severe psychopathological emotion is higher in adolescents exhibiting higher degree of offences. Ahmad (1988) has also reported that meditators show overall better adjustment and personality organization than non-meditators.

According to Aminabhai (1996) Yoga training leads to highly significant improvement in subject's mental health. Deepak, Manchanda, and Maheswari (1994) have reported that continuous meditation can substantially improve the clinico-electroencephalographic measures in drug resistant epileptics. Jhansi, and Rao (1996) have investigated the role of practicing
Transcendental Meditation (TM) in improving the attention regulation capacity of its practitioners. Their study reveals greater attention regulation capacity among TM practitioners compared to their counterparts, due to the regular cognitive exercises involved in meditation practice. Jin (1992) has observed the efficacy of Tai chi, a moving meditation, in reducing mood
disturbance caused by mental/emotional stressors. Yoga is claimed to endow perfect physical, mental and social well being of an individual. A series of research investigations have revealed that there are many beneficial effects of yoga, which would help in the stress management (Selvamurthy, 1993). Yoga and meditation can contribute positively to various cognitive
processes, including perception and in turn, on Subjective Well-being, Quality of Life and Criminal Propensity. Vipassana is a particular technique of self-examination, a scientific method of self-observation that results in the total purification of the mind and the highest happiness of full liberation (Vipassana Research Institute, 1990).

Chandiramani, Verma, Dhar, and Aggarwal (1994) have studied the psychological effects of Vipassana meditation (VM) on Tihar jail inmates. They report that VM brought significant improvement in psychological parameters like sense of hope and well-being. There has been considerable reduction in the neurotic predisposition, hostility and feelings of helplessness
reported by the prisoners. Mahendram, Kumariah, Mishra, and Baroohi (1998) have observed that VM is effective in reducing tension headache. Venkantesh, Pal, Negi, Verma, Sapru, and Verma (1994) have observed that yoga practitioners, both males and females, have more positive attitude towards yoga than control group males and females. Control group showed higher neurotic trend, and yoga group showed significantly higher scores on social desirability. The authors have also found that Life event scores (past one year) were significantly less in yoga practitioners. Khurana (1996, 1999) conducted field experiments using 'before and after' design to find out the effect of VM on Quality of Life (QOL) and Subjective Well-being (SWB) of undertrials, in Tihar jail. She found positive effect on VM on QOL and SWB of undertrials, though not significant. Therefore, she recommended that control group design should be used in further study. Chaudhary (1999) investigated the effectiveness of Vipassana meditation, as a technique of stress management and reformation among adolescent prisoners. In her study, Chaudhary reported that both state anxiety and trait anxiety reduced significantly among adolescents who had done the Vipassana course. She also reported that there was a decrease in aggression among undertrial prisoners who had undergone Vipassana course. There was an increase in the feelings of positive emotions such as, hopefulness, self control, conformity, and compassion, was more after practicing Vipassana, as compared to non-practitioners of Vipassana.
According to Chandiramani et al (1995), Vipassana meditation emphasizes both conscious life style changes in the area of morality and deeper psychological analysis, which alters the contents and the processes of the mind in fundamental ways. Vipassana meditation courses have been found to bring out many positive changes in the behaviour of jail inmates
(Shah, 1976; Unnithan & Ahuja, 1977; Hammersley & Creganj, 1986). On the basis of clinical experience, Chandiramani et al (1995) have stated that mild to moderately severe neurotic cases of anxiety, depression and adjustment problems show complete recovery as a result of Vipassana. They also reported that there was considerable reduction in the neurotic predisposition, hostility and feelings of helplessness reported by the prisoners; while the sense of hope and well being
were enhanced, following Vipassana courses. On the basis of the above review of research, it is assumed that Vipassana will have a significant positive effect on the Quality of Life, Subjective Well-being, and Criminal Propensity of undertrials.

1.2 Vipassana Meditation: An Introduction
Vipassana is an ancient meditation technique rediscovered by Gautama the Buddha, about 2500 years ago. It is currently being taught in India and several other countries under the guidance of Shri S. N. Goenka, the principal teacher of Vipassana. It promotes conscious lifestyle changes, enhances concentration of mind and facilitates deeper psychological introspection to
bring about lasting behavioural changes.
Vipassana means "insight" - seeing things as they really are. To learn this technique one is required to take a ten day residential course under a qualified teacher. To begin with, one has to take a vow of observing certain rules of moral conduct (sila). These are: abstention from killing any sentient being, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and taking any intoxicant. This first step
itself is likely to initiate positive changes in prisoners. The second component of this training is called Anapana, i.e., awareness of respiration. This involves continuous "observation" of the natural flow of incoming and outgoing breath. Gradually the mind gets concentrated on this natural activity and the person can exercise greater control over his mind. It promotes awareness of the present moment, equanimity and tranquillity of mind, since the act of breathing is free from any craving or aversion.

The third step called development of pañña or wisdom - involves purification of mind through enhanced awareness. The individual engages himself in choiceless and effortless observation of body sensations and tries to develop and attitude of non-judgement and non- reaction. 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. Observing these sensations in a detached/impersonal manner helps the individual handle these emotions.

People from different backgrounds have undergone residential courses of Vipassana and found it of practical value in everyday life. For the duration of the retreat, students remain within the course site, having no contact with the outside world. They refrain from reading and writing, and suspend any religious practices or other disciplines. They follow a rigorous daily schedule
which includes about ten hours of sitting meditation. They also observe silence, not communicating with fellow students: however, they are free to discuss issues concerning meditation with the teacher and any material problems with the management.
The observation of rules of moral conduct allows the mind to calm down sufficiently to proceed with the task at hand. Secondly, for the first three-and-a-half days, students practise Anapana meditation, focusing attention on the breath. This practise helps to develop control over the unruly mind. These first two steps of living a wholesome life and developing control of the mind are necessary and beneficial, but are incomplete unless the third step is taken: purifying the mind of underlying negativities. This third step, undertaken for the last six-and-a-half days, is the practise of Vipassana: one penetrates one's entire physical and mental structure with the clarity of insight.

Students receive systematic meditation instructions several times a day, and each day's progress is explained during a video taped evening discourse by Shri Goenka. Complete silence is observed for the first nine days. On the tenth day, students resume speaking, making the transition back to a more extroverted way of life. The course concludes on the morning of the eleventh day.

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 defilement.

About the Study

The study aimed at finding out the effect of Vipassana meditation (VM) on Quality of Life (QOL), Subjective Well-being (SWB), and Criminal Propensity (CP) among Tihar jail inmates. A brief description of each of these concepts/variables is given below.

According to Goldenson (1984), mental health is a state of mind, characterized by emotional well-being, relative freedom from anxiety and disabling symptoms and a capacity to establish constructive relationship with ordinary demands and stresses of life. Ryff et al (1995), have proposed a theoretical model of well-being, which encompasses six distinct dimensions of wellness: 'autonomy', 'environment', 'mastery', 'personal growth', 'positive relation with others', 'purpose in life', and 'self-acceptance'. Earlier, Sahoo and Bidyadhar (1988) stated that at least four dominant dimensions influence the way people evaluate their own subjective mental health: 'evaluation of positive affective experience', 'evaluation of negative affective experience', 'feeling
of personal competence on handling negative experience' and 'feeling of personal competence in driving positive experience'.
Subjective well-being is an important aspect of one's total health status. It is a mental state, which helps a person to maintain equilibrium, anchored by hope and optimism, even in adversity. A human being in a prison, particularly an undertrial, is normally under high anxiety and stress. It is evident from research that yoga, meditation and religious practices have a positive impact to reduce stress and enhance mental health. Although, a few studies have been conducted on jail inmates (Eber, 1975; Khuruna, 1996), little has , however, been reported regarding the effect of Vipassana meditation on subjective well being of undertrials.
Quality of Life is defined as the degree of excellence of one's life that contributes to satisfaction and happiness and benefits mental health. Quality of Life of an individual would be affected by a number of factors, particularly by the significant positive and negative life events. As stated by Milbrath (1979) 'Subjective studies of Quality of Life typically have shown that
most people derive their greatest sense of Quality of Life from their home and family life and from the close supportive relationships they have with friends and colleagues'. Criminal Propensity is the notion of an underlying, or latent characteristic of all individuals - aggression, impulsiveness, self-control, or conditionality - that has a direct effect on a person's likelihood of committing criminal acts. Research findings suggest that people with Criminal Propensity score high on Neuroticism, Extroversion, Psychoticism and Lie tests.

2.1 Objectives:
The objectives of this study are:
1. To find out the effect of Vipassana Meditation (VM) on Subjective Well-being of Tihar Jail inmates.
2. To investigate the effect of VM on QOL of Tihar Jail inmates.
3. To examine the effect of VM on Criminal Propensity of inmates.
4. To assess the overall experience of inmates who regularly practice Vipassana.
5. To find out the difference, if any, in the effect of VM on SWB and CP of male and female inmates.

2.2 Hypotheses:
Based on the review of literature the following hypotheses were formulated:
1. There will be a significant positive effect of VM on the QOL of inmates of Tihar Jail.
2. VM will have a significant positive effect on the SWB of inmates.
3. Criminal Propensity of inmates will decrease significantly after attending the course of VM.
4. There will be significant difference in SWB and CP of experimental (Vipassana) group and control (non- Vipassana) group.
5. Male and female inmates will differ significantly in SWB and CP, as a result of VM. Rationale behind the formulation of the hypotheses:
The training in Vipassana involves awareness of respiration which involves continuous observation of the natural flow of incoming and outgoing breath. This enables the mind to become concentrated and tranquil. Such a person can exercise greater control over his/her mind. Vipassana involves purification of mind through enhanced awareness which in turn helps an
individual inculcate and attitude of non-reactive observation. Thus when feelings of negative emotions, i.e. anger, aggression, fear, insecurity etc. arise, the individual can handle them better. The hypotheses are supported by a few researches done using the technique of Vipassana and other forms of meditation on the levels of anxiety, aggression, hopelessness etc. (Kannapann &
Kalliappan, 1983; Jin, 1992; Chandiramani, Verma, Dhar and Aggarwal, 1994).

Method of Study

3.1 Research design:
The research design, sample characteristics, tools of measurement and statistical analysis for the study are given below.
Both control group and 'before and after' experimental designs were used to find out the effect of VM on QOL, SWB, and Criminal Propensity (CP) of Tihar Jail inmates. The Experimental group was exposed to VM where as the control group had no exposure to VM. The participants of the VM (experimental group) were also tested on the above variables before and
after they were exposed to VM. The scores of the experimental and the control groups as well as before and after their (experimental group) exposure to VM were compared to find out the effect of VM. This study was carried out in five sub-groups (study 1, study 2, study 3, study 4, and study 5).

The first study (study 1) was carried out on male adolescents randomly selected from Ward 7, and 3 of Jail No. 5. The sample consists of 45 participants each from Vipassana and Non-Vipassana group. The experimental group was the Vipassana group. The participants were tested on Quality of Life, Subjective Well-being and Criminal Propensity.

As the researchers found certain anomalies in the first study, they decided to conduct the study again. They decided to drop the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire (LSQ) in later studies, as the participants had faced difficulties in understanding it. Also the other two questionnaires (Subjective Well-being and Criminal Propensity) were made simple through translation. In the study, the number of participants in experimental group (Vipassana group) was 49, and the number of participants in the control group (Non-Vipassana group) was 39.

Study 2 was conducted on female inmates in Jail No. 1. Thirty participants were taken in both the experimental group and the control group each. The experimental group participated in a 10-day Vipassana course. They were tested before and after the Vipassana course, and their scores on Subjective Well-being and Criminal Propensity were compared. These scores of the
experimental group were also compared with that of the control group.

Study 3 was conducted on a group of adolescents who volunteered to undergo VM course. A pre-post comparison of their scores on the selected variables was made.

Study 4 and 5 were similar to the study 3. Both were before-after tests on selected variables on adolescent inmates.
3.2 Sample: For study 1, the experimental group was selected from among adolescent inmates who had undergone Vipassana meditation earlier. They are termed the Vipassana group (N = 45). The control group (N = 45) was selected randomly from inmates who did not attend Vipassana. Both the groups belonged to same age groups (18-25 years) and similar level of educational background. They were compared on their scores in the relevant scales i.e., Subjective Well-being and Criminal Propensity.

For study 2, the experimental group consisted of 30 female inmates who had attended Vipassana course. They were tested on the scales just before and again after the Vipassana course. A control group (N = 30) was also randomly selected from among those who did not participate in Vipassana Meditation course. Their scores were compared to those of experimental group's pre and post meditation scores.

For study 3, the experimental group (Vipassana) consisted of 49 participants and the Control group (non-Vipassana) consisted of 39 participants. Both the groups were male Adolescents.

For study 4, the sample size was 26 (male adolescents). This was a before-and-after Study.

In study 5, there were 28 adolescent male participants. This was also a before-and-after Study.
Data collection was done in a very disciplined manner with the help of volunteers - mostly old Vipassana meditators including a few inmates.

3.3 Tools:
1. The Subjective Well -being Scale (Nagpal and Sell, 1985) was used to measure Subjective Well-being. It has 40 items (Appendix 1-a). This scale has high inter-rater reliability, inter-scores reliability, and test-retest reliability. The scale has been found to be highly significant and satisfactory in validity.

Subjective Well-being has been reported as a composite measure of independent feelings about a variety of life concerns, in addition to an overall feeling about life in positive and negative terms, i.e., general well-being and ill-being. Not surprisingly, general well-being in its positive affect and, to a somewhat lesser degree, its negative affect appear to be stable over time
to an extent that they can probably be called personality traits. The Subjective Well-being Inventory (SUBI) is designed to measure feelings of well-being or ill-being as experienced by an individual, or a group of individuals in various day-to-day life concerns. The Inventory measures 11 factorial dimensions, viz. (1) General well-being-positive affect (2) Expectation-achievement Congruence (3) Confidence in coping (4) Transcendence (5) Family group support (6) Social support (7) Primary group concern (8) Inadequate mental mastery (9) Perceived ill-health (10) Deficiency in social contacts (11) General well-being-negative affect. The sample for this study consists of prisoners. Few items (questions) from the original scale are not applicable to prisoners. Through proper analysis those questions which are not suitable to prison life are selectively removed from the original list. The new questionnaire contains 30 items (see Appendix 1-b).

2. Quality of Life: The term 'Quality of Life (QOL)' is a new name for the earlier terms such as 'general welfare' and 'social well-being'. QOL us defined as the degree of excellence of one's life that contributes to satisfaction and happiness and benefits mental health. The concept of QOL is subjective. QOL of an individual would be affected by a number of factors, particularly by the significant positive and negative life events. These life events may be related either to his family or society or community where he lives or his own personal life (Verma, 1996). In this study Life Satisfaction Scale (PGI, Chandigarh, 1986) has been used to measure QOL. The concept of Life Satisfaction (LS) is very similar in meaning to QOL. LS measures the same psychological functions as that of QOL. (PGI, Chandigarh 1986) Life Satisfaction Scale is a reliable and valid
scale (Appendix-2).

3. Criminal Propensity Scale (C): The Criminal Propensity Scale (C) (Appendix-3b) has been prepared by Sanyal and Kathpalia (1999), on the basis of Eysenckian theory (Appendix-3a). It is a 40-item scale. Studies based on Eysenck Personality Questionnaire have revealed that criminals score significantly high on psychoticism and neuroticism score and low on the lie score, unlike that of control group of non-criminals. Eysenck (1976) described the criminals to be on psuchopathic gradient i.e., they showed high Neuroticism, Extroversion and Psychoticism and low on Social Desirability (L). 'C' Scale has been developed for the sole purpose of Indian setting, and is hypothesized to predict the criminal prone behaviour in individuals. It is claimed that the 'C' Scale is the first of its type adapted and applied in the Indian setting. Subdimensions of 'C' are given below:

Psychoticism: A factor developed by Eysenck for distinguishing the three groups of normal, schizophrenic, and manic depressive individuals from each other. Two terms that are closely identified with psychosis are insanity and dementia.

Neuroticism: A functional mental disorder characterized by a high level of anxiety and other distressing emotional symptoms, such as morbid fears, obsessive thoughts, compulsive acts, somatic reactions, dissociative states, and depressive reactions. The symptoms do not involve gross personality disorganization, total lack of insight, or loss of contact with reality, and are
generally viewed as exaggerated, unconscious methods of coping with internal conflicts and the anxiety they produce. Neuroticism implies proneness to neurosis; also, a mild condition of neurosis. Neuroticism is one of two major dimensions in Eysenck's factor theory of personality, the other being introversion-extroversion.

Lie: It is a dimension in Eysenck's factor theory of personality. Lying means making false statements with conscious intent to deceive. Nonpathological lying is often found in children or adults seeking to avoid punishment or to save others from distress ('white lies'). Pathological lying is a major characteristic of the antisocial personality. When lying behaviour reaches excess then it is considered to be an abnormal behaviour.

Extraversion: Noting that some people live within themselves and others only in their converse with other people, Jung postulated two great types characterized by the inward or the outward turning of the libido, by preoccupation with the world of the self or by preoccupation with social reality. This outward turning of the "libido", or "preoccupation with social reality" or in broader sense "love for others" is known as extroversion. This personality characteristic, when present in an excess in a person results in same form of abnormality.

The Criminal Propensity Scale has been designed for the Indian setting, which may be useful in contributing to predict the criminal prone behaviour in individuals. Researchers observed that the inmates had some difficulty in understanding the meaning
of some of the questions. Thus the scale was further simplified through change in language and two items from the original scale (Appendix-3b) were dropped. This modified scale (Appendix- 3c) was finally used in the present study.

3.4 Statistical Analysis:
The statistical analysis was carried out in data in order to test all the hypotheses framed. In the present study various univariate statistical techniques such as mean, standard deviation and 't' tests were used to analyze the data.

Results and Discussion

The first study was conducted on the adolescent prisoners on 19th of June 1999. The purpose of this particular study was to see the difference in scores on Subjective Well-being, Criminal Propensity and Life Satisfaction, between inmates, who had prior practice of Vipassana meditation (experimental group), and inmates who did not attend Vipassana. The analysis and
results of the scores of these two groups are given below:
Study 1
Table 1: Significance of difference between mean scores on Life Satisfaction between Vipassana (N = 45) and Non-Vipassana (N = 45) groups in Tihar jail.

tobtained = 0.79
Degrees of Freedom (DF) = 88
Examining the one-tailed tcriticals at 88 degrees of freedom: tcriticals .01 level 2.37 > 0.79

Degrees of freedom (df) = 88
Examining the one-tailed t at 88 degrees of freedom: t .01 level 2.37>0.79. It is concluded that though the sample which practised Vipassana had a larger score on LS scale than Non-Vipassana group, the difference was not statistically significant.
The results did not come as expected. The scores on this scale by the two groups did not differ significantly. It was later known through analysis that both the groups faced problems in understanding and comprehending the meaning and implication of the items in the Scale. As pointed out by volunteers who helped fill the questionnaires, most of the participants were illiterate, and they could not do the fine distinction on 5-point scale needed in this questionnaire. Due to this reason this questionnaire was dropped in the later studies.

Table 2: Significance of difference between mean scores on Subjective Well-being between Vipassana group (N = 45) and Non-Vipassana group (N = 45).

tobtained = 3.47
Degrees of Freedom (DF) = 88
Examining the one-tailed tcriticals at 88 degrees of freedom: tcriticals.01 level 2.37 < 3.47
It is concluded that the sample which practised Vipassana scored significantly higher on subjective well being than the control group which did not practice Vipassana. The two groups differ significantly at P<.01 The hypothesis No. 1 stands validated. It appears that practice of Vipassana brings mental balance, calm, proper self-analysis, positive thinking and responsibility to the Vipassana practitioners.

Table 3: Significance of difference between mean scores on Criminal Propensity between Vipassana (N = 45) and Non-Vipassana (N = 45) group
(A)

(B)

tobtained = 0.63
Degrees of Freedom (DF) = 88
Examining the one-tailed tcriticals at 88 degrees of freedom: tcriticals .01 level 2.37 > 0.63.
It is concluded that the group which practised Vipassana, though scored lower in Criminal Propensity than Non-Vipassana group, the difference was not significant. It was hypothesized that Vipassana group will score less on Criminal Propensity than the Non-Vipassana group. But result did not come as was expected. Scores of both the groups did not differ significantly. Several causes were identified for this result. First, the Hindi version was translated from Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Participants could not understand the meaning of many of the questions. Almost fifty percent of the participants were either illiterate or very lowly qualified. It was felt that many items should be made very simple, so that the participants will fully understand the questions. Accordingly questions were made simpler after thorough analysis. Three of the questions which were not suitable for the prison life were dropped and the new simplified questionnaire contained 37 items instead of 40 in the original one.

(Appendix-3)

Study 2:

The second study was conducted among female inmates of Tihar Jail to evaluate the effect of Vipassana meditation on their Subjective Well-being and Criminal Propensity. An experimental group was selected, which had prior familiarity with Vipassana. A control group was also selected, which did not have any prior familiarity with Vipassana. Both were
administered Subjective Well-being and Criminal Propensity Questionnaires. The experimental group was again tested after undergoing a 10-day Vipassana course. The results are given below:
Table 4: Significance of difference between mean scores on Subjective Well-being Scale, before and after attending the Vipassana course.
N = 30

tobtained = 2.75
Degrees of Freedom (DF) = 29
Examining the one-tailedtcriticals at 29 degrees of freedom: tcriticals .01 level 2.46 < 2.75
It is concluded that the group which attended the Vipassana meditation showed significant improvement in their scores on Subjective Well-being Scale. The post Vipassana score marked a significant increase over the pre Vipassana score on Subjective Well-being. This implies that the Vipassana course had a significant and positive effect on the Subjective Well-
being of female prisoners.

Table 5a: Significance of difference between mean scores on Criminal Propensity, before and after attending Vipassana course.

N = 30

(B)
N = 30

tobtained = 2.54
Degrees of Freedom (DF) = 29
Examining the one-tailed tcriticals at 29 degrees of freedom: tcriticals .01 level 2.46 < 2.54
With 29 degrees of freedom t = 2.46 for P = .01 (one-tailed). The calculated value of t, i.e. 2.54 exceeds this and is therefore significant. The means of the two conditions differ significantly.
The pre and post scores of experimental group on Criminal Propensity was found to differ significantly at P < .01 level. After attending the VM course the Criminal Propensity of inmates decreased. This implies that VM can help in checking the tendency to commit crime. One particular observation was that Vipassana course brought down scores on all the subdimensions
of 'C' Scale except one i.e., psychoticism.

Table 6a: Difference between mean scores in Criminal Propensity between Vipassana (post) Group (N =30) and Non-Vipassana group (N =30)

N = 30

6b: Significance of difference between mean scores on Criminal Propensity between Vipassana group and Non-Vipassana group
N = 30

tobtained = -2.207
Degrees of Freedom (DF) = 60
Examining the one-tailed tcriticals at 60 degrees of freedom: tcriticals .01 level 2.39 > 2.21 The calculated value of t is slightly less than the required value (2.39) and is therefore not significant at this level. The calculated value of 't' exceeds this and is therefore significant at this level. The means of the two groups differ significantly. This implies that Vipassana group showed less
tendency to commit crime than their counterparts in Non-Vipassana group, though the confidence level of this assertion is a bit lower.

Table 7: Difference between mean scores on criminal propensity of experimental (pre) and Control group.
N = 30

The two conditions differ at mean level but the difference is not significant. It was expected that since the experimental group would score less on Criminal Propensity than the control group. But the results showed that the control group scored lower than the experimental group, though the difference was not significant. The experimental group has scored less in three subdimensions of 'C' i.e., Lie, Psychoticism, Neuroticism, but scored substantially more on Extraversion than that of control group. This one big difference brought the total score against the hypothesis that the experimental group would score less on 'C' than control group.
This could be attributed to the fact that the experimental group, though familiar with Vipassana, has a large number of people who are not able to maintain the continuity of their practice. Consequently the salutary effects of VM practice wane. This is corroborated by the results of the comparison between Non-Vipassana group and the experimental group just after they had done a course (Tables 6a, 6b), where the difference is statistically significant.

Table 8: Significance of difference between mean scores on a Subjective Well-Being Scale between the Vipassana group (post)(experimental group - XB) and the control group (XC).

nXB = 30
nXC = 32
N = 62

tobtained = 11.15
Degrees of Freedom (DF) = 60
At .01 level, tcriticals (DF = 60) = 2.39 < 11.15
It is evident from table 8 that the mean difference in the scores of Subjective Well-being between experimental group and control group is significant at 0.01 level. This suggests that VM has a positive effect on the SWB of inmates.

Table 9: Significance of the mean scores on a Subjective Well-Being Scale between the Vipassana group (pre) (XA) and the control group (XC).

N = 62

tobtained = 1.497
At .01 level, tcriticals (DF = 60) = 2.39 > 1.497
(Two-tailed) P < .01
At .05 level, tcriticals (DF = 60) = 2.00 > 1.497
It is concluded that the two conditions do not differ significantly.

The result shows that though the experimental group which had prior familiarity with Vipassana meditation has scored little more than the control group, the mean difference between these two groups is not significant. Here again the results have the same pattern as with Criminal Propensity and the reasons given above are applicable here too.

Study 3: This was the repeat study done in October, 1999 using the questionnaires made simple through retranslation. The Life Satisfaction Scale was dropped from the study. Here special care was taken to ensure that the participants fully understood the questions, before giving answers to them. Sufficient number of volunteers were employed to take care of illiterate participants. The results are given below.

Table 10a: Significance of mean score difference on Criminal Propensity between Vipassana and Non-Vipassana groups.

10b:
nXa = 39
nXb = 49

At .01 level, tcriticals (DF = 86) = 2.37 < 2.83
P < .01

It is concluded that subjects who have done Vipassana meditation have scored less on Criminal Propensity than the control group, who have not done Vipassana. Vipassana group has scored significantly lower than the Non-Vipassana groups on this
scale. It was hypothesized that Vipassana group will show less Criminal Propensity than the Non- Vipassana group. The result confirmed this hypothesis. 'C' Scale has four subdimensions i.e., Psychoticism, Extroversion and Neuroticism. The Vipassana group has scored less than the Non- Vipassana group on all these subdimentions. This result suggests that Vipassana has lowering effect on Criminal Propensity.

Table 11: Significance of mean difference on Subjective Well-being between Vipassana and Control (Non-Vipassana) groups
(Non-Vipassana) nXa = 39
(Non-Vipassana) nXb = 49

At .01 level, (one-tailed) tcriticals (DF = 86) = 2.37 < 2.704
It is concluded that subjects who have undergone VM course have scored more on Subjective Well-being than the control group, which have not undergone Vipassana course. And this difference is statistically significant. Vipassana has brought a better sense of Subjective Well- being to its practitioners. The result came as was expected.

Study 4: Study 4 was conducted in the month of December 1999. It was a before-and-after test. The adolescent group was administered Subjective Well-being (SWB) and Criminal Propensity (CP) questionnaires both before and after the Vipassana course. Effort was made to make the data collection procedure more disciplined. The results are shown below.

Table 12: Significance of difference between mean scores on Criminal Propensity Scale before and after attending the Vipassana course.

tobtained = 0.29
Degrees of Freedom (DF) = 25
tcriticals 0.01 level (one-tailed) = 2.48 < 0.29

Table 13: Significance of difference between mean scores on Subjective Well-being before and after attending the Vipassana course

tobtained = 0.44
Degrees of Freedom (DF) = 25
tcriticals 0.01 level (one-tailed) = 2.48 < 0.44
As seen from Tables 12 & 13, the results are not as expected. In fact there is an increase in CP score. Though there is a slight increase in the SWB score, it is far too small to be significant. In order to identify the possible reasons, detailed discussions were held with the course management and it was discovered that there had been severe intra-camp disturbances during the VM and some participants had to be expelled. These disturbances may not have allowed the remaining participants to practice seriously, and so they could not benefit to the extent possible.

Study 5: Study 5 was conducted in the month of March 2000. It was a before-and-after test. Participants were adolescents. The group was administered Subjective Well-being and Criminal Propensity (CP) questionnaires, both before and after the meditation course. Data collection was conducted in a disciplined manner. Scores are given below:

Table 14: Significance of difference between mean scores on Criminal Propensity before and after attending Vipassana (N=28)

Participants Conditions Mean Mean Difference 't' Value

tobtained = 1.689
Degrees of Freedom (DF) = 27
Examining the one-tailed tcriticals at 27 degrees of freedom: tcriticals .01 level 2.47 > 1.69 It is concluded that the group which attended the Vipassana course did score less (mean) on Criminal Propensity but the difference was not statistically significant.

Table 15: Significance of difference between mean scores on Subjective Well-being Scale, Before and after attending the course.

N = 28

tobtained = 1.16
Degrees of Freedom (DF) = 27
Examining the one-tailed tcriticals at 27 degrees of freedom: tcriticals .01 level 2.47 > 1.16 It is observed that there is slight increase in the SWB score of participants after they were exposed to VM, though the difference was not significant. It implies that though sustained practise of VM even better result could be achieved.

Conclusion

The following conclusions represent the findings of the study.
1. The first and second hypotheses were accepted since level of Criminal Propensity came down and that of Subjective Well-being went up after practicing Vipassana, among female inmates.

2. The second hypothesis that Vipassana group (who have done Vipassana course earlier) would score less on Criminal Propensity and more on Subjective Well-being than Non-Vipassana group have come significant only in case of male inmates.
Male inmates of Vipassana group scored less on Criminal Propensity and more on Subjective Well-being than Non-Vipassana group. The difference was statistically significant. The same did not hold for female inmates. Though the Vipassana group (female) scored more on Subjective Well-being than control group (Non-Vipassana), the difference was not statistically
significant. Surprisingly the Vipassana group (female) scored more on Criminal Propensity than that of control group, when it was expected that Vipassana group would score significantly less on Criminal Propensity than the control group. It implies that female inmates benefited less from doing Vipassana course. It might be the case that they could not comprehend the core meaning and philosophy of Vipassana meditation. Some of the participants of the Vipassana group complained that during the Vipassana session they felt shortage of space. They were confined to a small place for which they could not keep proper distance from each other and instinctively communicated with each other. The female group reported and increase in the feelings of positive emotions such as, hopefulness, self control, conformity, compassion, and mental peace after doing Vipassana course.
It was also decided to study a select group of inmates (N = 18 male) who had done several Vipassana courses during the span of last few years, and had been selected to undergo a 20-day meditation course, which is one of the more advanced meditation courses in Vipassana. The researchers talked to this group of senior Vipassana practitioners (seniority not in the sense of
age, but in the sense of number of courses attended), and asked them several important questions about their experience with Vipassana regarding feelings, attitude, friendship, health, and mental peace. As a trial, these students were also requested to fill the SWB scale before the beginning of the 20-day camp. The mean value was extremely high (78 in a maximum possible score of 90) clearly showing that their sustained practise had benefited them immensely.

This was all before they attended the 20-day Vipassana course. After they underwent this course, the researchers again went to them and discussed several matters concerning life, emotion, society, family, responsibility, health, and mental peace. They were also requested to share their thoughts with other inmates and jail officials. It was felt by the researchers that the 20- day Vipassana course had brought further positive change in their over all personality and attitude towards life. The 20-day course consolidated well, what they had already gained from practicing Vipassana for several years. Such was the impact of their presentation that The Additional D.G (prisons) who was present during this feed back session remarked that to him it seemed as if he was sitting in a temple and listening to some saintly people, rather than sitting in a prison. And the Principal Investigator of this Project was also motivated so much that she sat in a VM course soon thereafter. In short, Vipassana meditation has been found to be effective not only in reducing Criminal Propensity, and increasing Subjective Well-being but also in bringing deeper level overall positive change in personality and attitude towards life and society. The benefits of Vipassana are many. But the same can be achieved only through sustained practice.

Limitations of the Study

1. Ideally, the researchers should have full control over the physical and social environment of the participants, with no one interfering or doing anything to modify the impact of corrective efforts. Unfortunately, this could not be ensured fully, although the authorities did their best to cooperate in this regard. Too much physical proximity among meditators proved to be detrimental to maintenance of silence in case of females.

2. Since many (more than 50%) of the participants in both experimental and control groups were illiterate, they faced serious difficulties in comprehending the real meaning and implication of the individual questions in the questionnaire, even if the researchers made translational simplification of the questions twice during the study.

3. Observations about the regular practice/non-practice of Vipassana could not be regularly made. Participants' overall behaviour patterns were also not recorded in the present study.

Suggestions for Future Research

1. Greater control over the social environment must be attempted so that non-meditators do not discourage the participants from maintaining the continuity of practice of Vipassana meditation.

2. Adequate personal space should be provided, so that the participant can do self-analysis in isolation.

3. Observation about compliance/non-compliance with instructions during the course may be made.

4. Longer observations/follow up study is recommended.

5. Better tools may be developed to assess the effect of Vipassana meditation more objectively and reliably. There is a need to develop scales to measure Subjective Well-being/Mental Health/Quality of Life/Criminal Propensity, specifically for the inmates of the jail.

6. Inmates undergoing courses frequently and practicing VM regularly should be studied separately to assess the special effects of intensive practice.

7. More congenial atmosphere should be provided to trainees for Vipassana practice.

8. Regular discourses on the varieties of meaning and implications of Vipassana meditations would be helpful.

References

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Appendix - 1a

Subjective Well-being Inventory

Instructions
People are different. They live in a variety of situations and they do not feel the same way about life and the world around them. From a practical viewpoint, it is important to know how different persons feel with regard to their day-to-day concerns like their health or family. Such knowledge is necessary if an improvement in the quality of life of people is to be brought about.

This is a questionnaire on how you feel about some of the aspects of your life. Each question may be answered by any one of the given categories by putting a circle around the number which seems to represent your feeling best. For example, in the first question, if you feel that your life is very interesting, please put a circle around the response '1'. At times you may find that your
feeling is not represented perfectly by any of the given response categories. In such cases, just choose the one closest to what you think.

All information given by you will be treated as confidential and will be used only for research purposes.

1. Do you feel your life is interesting?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

2. Do you think you have achieved the standard of living and the social status that you had expected?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

3. How do you feel about the extent to which you have achieved success and are getting ahead?

Very good 1
Quite good 2
Not so good 3

4. Do you normally accomplish what you want to?

Most of the time 1
Sometimes 2
Hardly ever 3

5. Compared with the past, do you feel your present life is:

Very happy 1
Quite happy 2
Not so happy 3

6. On the whole, how happy are you with the things you have been doing in recent years?

Very happy 1
Quite happy 2
Not so happy 3

7. Do you feel you can manage situations even when they do not turn out as expected?

Most of the time 1
Sometimes 2
Hardly ever 3

8. Do you feel confident that in the case of a crisis (anything which substantially upsets your
life situation) you will be able to cope with it/face it boldly?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

9. The way things are going now do you feel confident in coping with the future?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

10. Do you sometimes feel that you and the things around you belong very much together
and are integral parts of a common force?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

11. Do you sometimes experience moments of intense happiness almost like a kind of ecstasy
or bliss?

Quite often 1
Sometimes 2
Hardly ever 3

12. Do you sometimes experience a joyful feeling of being part of mankind as of one large
family?

Quite often 1
Sometimes 2
Hardly ever 3

13. Do you feel confident that relatives and/or friends will help you out if there is an emergency,
e.g. if you lose what you have by fire or theft?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

14. How do you feel about the relationship you and your children have?

Very good 1
Quite good 2
Not so good 3
Not applicable 4

15. Do you feel confident that relatives and/or friends will look after you if you are severely
ill or meet with an accident?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

16. Do you get easily upset if things don't turn out as expected?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

17. Do you sometimes feel sad without reason?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

18. Do you feel too easily irritated, too sensitive?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

19. Do you feel disturbed by feelings of anxiety and tension?

Most of the time 1
Sometimes 2
Hardly ever 3

20. Do you consider it a problem for you that you sometimes lose your temper over minor
things?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

21. Do you consider your family a source of help to you in finding solutions to most of the
problems you have?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

22. Do you think that most of the members of your family feel closely attached to one another?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

23. Do you think you would be looked after well by your family in case you were seriously ill?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

24. Do you feel your life is boring/uninteresting?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

25. Do you worry about the future?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

26. Do you feel your life is useless?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

27. Do you sometimes worry about the relationship you and your wife/husband have?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3
Not applicable 4

28. Do you feel your friends/relatives would help you out if you were in need?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

29. Do you sometimes worry about the relationship you and your children have?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3
Not applicable 4

30. Do you feel that minor things upset you more than necessary?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

31. Do you get easily upset if you are criticized?

Most of the time 1
Sometimes 2
Hardly ever 3

32. Would you wish to have more friends than you actually have?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

33. Do you sometimes feel that you miss a real close friend?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

34. Do you sometimes worry about your health?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

35. Do you suffer from pains in various parts of your body?

Most of the time 1
Sometimes 2
Hardly ever 3

36. Are you disturbed by palpitations/a thumping heart?

Most of the time 1
Sometimes 2
Hardly ever 3

37. Are you disturbed by a feeling of giddiness?

Most of the time 1
Sometimes 2
Hardly ever 3

38. Do you feel you get tired too easily?

Most of the time 1
Sometimes 2
Hardly ever 3

39. Are you troubled by disturbed sleep?

Most of the time 1
Sometimes 2
Hardly ever 3

40. Do you sometimes worry that you do not have close personal relationship with other people?

Very much 1
To some extent 2
Not so much 3

Appendix - 3a

Eysenck's Personality Questionaire - Revised(E.P.Q.-R)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Instructions: Please answer each question by putting (x) mark in the box following "yes" or "No". There are no right or wrong answers or no trick questions. Work quickly and do not think too long about the exact meaning of the question.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO ANSWER EACH QUESTION
1. Do you have many different hobbies? Yes No
2. Do you stop to think things over before doing anything? Yes No
3. Does your mood often go up and down? Yes No
4. Have you ever taken the praise of something you knew someone else had really done? Yes No
5. Are you a talkative person? Yes No
6. Would being in dept worry you? Yes No
7. Do you ever feel "just miserable" for no reason? Yes No
8. Were you ever greedy by helping yourself to more than your share of anything? Yes No
9. Do you lock up your house carefully at night? Yes No
10. Are you rather lively? Yes No
11. Would it upset you a lot to see a child or an animal suffer? Yes No
12. Do you often worry about things you should not have done or said? Yes No
13. If you say you will do something, do you always keep your promise no matter how inconvenient it might be? Yes No
14. Can you usually let yourself go and enjoy yourself at a lively party? Yes No
15. Are you an irritable person? Yes No
16. Have you ever blamed someone for doing something you knew was really your fault? Yes No
17. Do you enjoy meeting new people? Yes No
18. Do you believe insurance schemes are a good idea? Yes No
19. Are your feelings easily hurt? Yes No
20. Are all your habits good and desirable ones? Yes No
21. Do you tend to keep in the background on social occasions? Yes No
22. Would you take drugs which may have strange or dangerous effects? Yes No
23. Do you often feel "fed up"? Yes No
24. Have you ever taken anything (even a pin or a button) that belonged to someone else? Yes No
25. Do you like going out a lot? Yes No
26. Do you enjoy hurting people you love? Yes No
27. Are you often troubled about feelings of guilt? Yes No
28. Do you sometimes talk about things you know nothing about? Yes No
29. Do you prefer reading to meeting people? Yes No
30. Do you have enemies who want to harm you? Yes No
31. Would you call yourself a nervous person? Yes No
32. Do you have many friends? Yes No
33. Do you enjoy practical jokes that can sometimes really hurt people? Yes No
34. Are you a worrier? Yes No
35. As a child did you do as you were told immediately and without grumbling? Yes No
36. Would you call yourself happy-go-lucky? Yes No
37. Do good manners and cleanliness matter much to you? Yes No
38. Do you worry about awful things that might happen? Yes No
39. Have you ever broken or lost something belonging to someone else? Yes No
40. Do you usually take the initiative to making new friends? Yes No
41. Would you call yourself tense or "highly-strung"? Yes No
42. Are you mostly quiet when you are with other people? Yes No
43. Do you think marriage is old-fashioned and should be done away with? Yes No
44. Do you sometimes boast a little? Yes No
45. Can you easily get some life into a rather dull party? Yes No
46. Do people who drive carefully annoy you? Yes No
47. Do you worry about your health? Yes No
48. Have you ever said anything bad or nasty about anyone? Yes No
49. Do you like telling jokes and funny stories to your friends? Yes No
50. Do most things taste the same to you? Yes No
51. As a child were you ever cheeky to your parents? Yes No
52. Do you like mixing with people? Yes No
53. Does it worry you if you know there are mistakes in your work? Yes No
54. Do you suffer from sleeplessness? Yes No
55. Do you always wash before a meal? Yes No
56. Do you nearly always have a "ready answer" when people talk to you? Yes No
57. Do you like to arrive at appointments in plenty of time? Yes No
58. Have you often felt listless and tired for no reason? Yes No
59. Have you ever cheated at a game? Yes No
60. Do you like doing things in which you have to act quickly? Yes No
61. Is (or was) your Mother a good woman? Yes No
62. Do you often feel life is very dull? Yes No
63. Have you ever taken advantage of someone? Yes No
64. Do you often take on more activities than you have time for? Yes No
65. Are there several people who keep trying to avoid you? Yes No
66. Do you worry a lot about your looks? Yes No
67. Do you think people spend too much time safeguarding their future with savings and insurances? Yes No
68. Have you ever wished that you were dead? Yes No
69. Would you dodge paying taxes if you were sure you could never be found out? Yes No
70. Can you get a party going? Yes No
71. Do you try not to be rude to people? Yes No
72. Do you worry too long after an embarrassing experience? Yes No
73. Have you ever insisted in having your own way? Yes No
74. When you catch a train do you often arrive at the last minute? Yes No
75. Do you suffer from "nerves"? Yes No
76. Do your friendships breakup easily without it being your fault? Yes No
77. Do you often feel lonely? Yes No
78. Do you always practice what you preach? Yes No
79. Do you sometimes like teasing animals? Yes No
80. Are you easily hurt when people find fault with you or the work you do? Yes No
81. Have you ever been late for an appointment at work? Yes No
82. Do you like plenty of bustle and excitement around you? Yes No
83. Would you like other people to be afraid of you? Yes No
84. Are you sometimes bubbling over with energy and sometimes very sluggish? Yes No
85. Do you sometimes put off until tomorrow what you ought to do today? Yes No
86. Do other people think of you as being very lively? Yes No
87. Do people tell you a lot of lies? Yes No
88. Are you touchy about something? Yes No
89. Are you always willing to admit it when you have made a mistake? Yes No
90. Would you feel very sorry for an animal caught in a trap? Yes No

PLEASE CHECK THAT YOU HAVE ANSWERED ALL THE QUESTIONS