DrumPower – music for a better community in the classroom: Group music therapy programme for violence prevention, social integration and empowerment in schools – suggestions from Community Music Therapy approaches

Abstract

Prevention of violence is one of the major social responsibilities of the twentyfirst century, requiring effective preventative measures at many levels. Music as a non-verbal and emotive medium provides general and specific means for promoting aggression regulation, social integration and empowerment. Different music 66 active participation improvisation conflict resolution Community Music Therapy therapeutic procedures seem to be useful and the ideas of Community Music Therapy can expand the methodical approaches in German Music Therapy. This article presents a specific music therapy programme for the prevention of violence in school classes, which has been scientifically elaborated upon over the past few years in Germany. After describing the programme, called DrumPower, the article will conclude with the question as to what extent the different approaches can be useful to each other in the future.

Hidden voices: Towards a trauma-informed framework of community music practice

“…It is clear that there is some understanding of trauma and its impacts, (Burnard et al 2018;Howell 2013Howell , 2018Mastnak 2016;Osborne 2009;Silverman and Elliot 2018;Wölfl 2016) which is an important starting point for development of trauma-informed practice.…”

“…Both Wölfl (2016) and Howell (2018) acknowledge the positive psychosocial benefits of group music participation for those who have experienced trauma. Music making has also been identified as a way of overcoming trauma through collective experience as it can help develop empathy (Burnard et al 2018;Hassler and Nicholson 2017;Marsh 2019).…”

“It's Like Mixing Paint”: Songwriting Gender Diversity and Alternative Gender Cultures with Young People as an ‘After-queer’ Methodology

“…It could be said that music therapy literature concerning young people has tended to focus on adolescent vulnerability, pathology, and how music can act as a preventative and supportive resource for adolescents broadly positioned as "at risk." Such literature has worked to meet the demand for evidence-based practice, focusing on the role of music in relation to mental illness or mood management (for example, refer to Gold, 2017;McFerran, Garrido, & Saarikallio, 2016;Papinczak, Dingle, Stoyanov, Hides, & Zelenko, 2015;Porter et al, 2017), substance abuse (for example, refer to Albornoz, 2011;Hohmann, Bradt, Stegemann & Koelsch, 2017), and integration and violence prevention in schools (Carr & Wigram 2009;Derrington, 2012;Wölfl, 2016). Looking beyond approaches that single out and seek to treat or "help" particular populations, some music therapy literature adopts a position more aligned with an after-queer lens, instead focused on reshaping the structures that delineate power and that position particular groups on the margins.…”

Holistic Development and Music Education: Research for Educators and Community Stakeholders

“…The use of a conventional understanding of community often infers insiders and outsiders, inclusion and exclusion, us and them, and centers and margins (McInterney, 2002). The community piece of making music together, combined with respectful and humanistic interactions, can lead to high degrees of integration and inclusion as well as empowerment for the community and individuals within the community (Wölfl, 2016). “The connection of traditional, modern and innovative improvised forms of music making within a respectful social community is a great chance for our multicultural society to reach more social integration, inclusion and empowerment within the emotional power of music” (Wölfl, 2016, p. 72).…”