THE STUDY FOUND SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS IN ANXIETY, NEUROTICISM, HOSTILITY, INSOMNIA, AND BEHAVIORAL INFRACTIONS AMONG INMATES WHO PRACTICED TM. BUT THE RESEARCHERS FAILED TO USE ADEQUATE CONTROLS AND TOOK 'GREATER THAN NORMAL LIBERTIES' IN INTERPRETING THEIR STATISTICAL RESULTS. NO PLACEBO CONTROL WAS USED, AND NO ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO SHIELD THE SUBJECTS FROM THE EXPERIMENTERS' EXPECTATIONS. AN EXAMPLE OF DISTORTED INTERPRETATION IS THE RESEARCHERS' CONCLUSION THAT THE ABSENCE OF BEHAVIORAL INFRACTIONS IN BOTH THE CONTROL AND TM SUBJECTS IS ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE EFFECTS OF THE TM PROGRAM. TM MAY HAVE USES IN A PRISON SETTING, BUT THE FOLSOM PRISON STUDY OFFERS NO PROOF. AT A COST OF $300 PER INMATE AND WITH A LACK OF DEMONSTRATED BENEFITS, TM PROGRAMS FOR INMATES MAY NOT REPRESENT A WISE EXPENDITURE OF CORRECTIONS RESOURCES. SEE NCJ-56147 FOR A RESPONSE TO THE CRITIQUE. (LKM)