Could Meditation Have Something to Do with Plummeting Crime Rates?
As the nation experiences fear and uncertainty about its economic future, a quiet, unexpected phenomenon is spreading across the country. According to FBI reports, violent crime has fallen for three straight years, with the murder rate now the lowest in four decades. These statistics defy predictions; police authorities had braced for a crime wave, expected to be unleashed by the recession, rising home foreclosures and social despair.
Federal law enforcement officials neither anticipated the sustained drop in violent crime nor have they been able to explain it. The Washington Post states, “Criminologists describe the trend as baffling.”
Historically, economic recession and crime go together, yet we seem to be handling it better than in the past. Is there a shift occurring in collective consciousness, toward greater harmony, calmness and resilience?
Crime and violence are an expression of national levels of stress. More and more people are finding ways to manage stress and chill out rather than allowing it to escalate in their lives. Reports of increasing numbers of Americans turning to yoga, meditation and natural health spas during the recession reflect this growing trend.
Though charitable donations are down, people are still choosing to give and are volunteering time and talents to make a difference in their neighborhood, community and world. Volunteerism is up — showing the biggest increase in a single year since 2003. Many more people are pulling together rather than away from each other, weathering the recession through cooperation, creative thinking and giving.
Why the unexpected positive trends during such punishing times?