Reflections on the Concord Prison Project and the follow-up study

In this commentary (1998), Ralph Metzner reflects on the erroneous conclusions drawn by him and Timothy Leary from the Concord Prison experiment which had falsely reported lowered the rate of recidivism amongst inmates who had undertaken a psychedelic intervention, despite evidence that most prisoners actually returned for parole violations related to committing new crimes. Metzner concludes that although psychedelics can bring about profound experiences of insight and personality change, criminal behavior patterns take a much more concerted system of rehabilitation and community support to change.

Abstract

From the second paragraph of the paper: “It is disconcerting, of course, to discover 35 years after the fact that a research project I was involved in and wrote about made quantitative errors and reported erroneous conclusions. As I read Rick Doblin’s findings, and re-read our original papers, it did give me occasion to reflect on that period, and what was called the Harvard Psilocybin project-and to come to the depressing conclusion that none of it did any better than chance (as far as one could tell from the tests).”

Author: Ralph Metzner

Summary

Reflections on the Concord Prison Project and the Follow-Up Study

Rick Doblin has provided a valuable service to the field of psychedelic research by conducting follow-up studies on the Good Friday study of religious experiences and the behavior change program for convicts at Concord Prison.

35 years after the fact, I discovered that a research project I was involved in and wrote about made quantitative errors and reported erroneous conclusions. As far as one could tell from the tests, none of it did any better than chance.

The two dominant paradigms in the Department of Social Relations at Harvard were behaviorism and Freudian psychoanalysis. Tim Leary was particularly pleased with the prospect of trying the psychedelic insight treatment with convicts.

The members of our project realized that after almost a year of running psilocybin sessions with convicts in the prison, we didn’t have a clue as to what to do for them once they got out of the prison and how to help them make it in society.

Leary devoted a tremendous amount of time and energy to helping paroled convicts who had been through his program, “make it” on the outside, including giving one of them a job at his center and renting him a room in his family home.

Thirty-five years is a long time to recall details of a statistical research project, and I have no idea how Leary came up with the “finding” that the return rate for parole violations was up and for new crimes down.

Rick Doblin’s analysis shows that most prisoners who were actually returned for parole violations had also committed new crimes, so the distinction itself is an artifact. Moreover, Leary’s 10-month follow-up figure of 32% recidivism in our group is clearly inconsistent with our own results.

Whether Leary made these mistakes consciously or unconscious, it is impossible to say at this point. Our basic finding remains the same: psychedelics can bring about profound experiences of insight and personal change.

Doblin’s statement that we need a “higher standard” of honesty and truthfulness is questionable, because there is no proof that Leary unethically manipulated the data. Careless mistakes were made, no doubt, but to make mistakes is neither unethical nor unscientific.