Learning, rehabilitation and the arts in prisons: a Scottish case study

Tett, Lyn; Anderson, Kirsten; McNeill, Fergus; Overy, Katie; Sparks, Richard

doi:10.1080/02660830.2012.11661631

Cited by 46 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In recent years, these two have combined and desistance research has begun to focus on how effective interventions support the desistance process. Within this, a body of research is emerging that focuses specifically on arts interventions and their potential for supporting transformative processes (Clennon 2013;McNeill et al 2011;Tett et al 2012). Acknowledging the role that learning plays in identity change, McNeill et al (2011) draw together the research on arts interventions within criminal justice settings and desistance theory to present six central themes within desistance theory (with examples) that are key to the effectiveness of interventions in their contribution to the desistance process.…”

Section: Desistance From Crimementioning

confidence: 96%

Musical learning and desistance from crime: the case of a ‘Good Vibrations’ Javanese gamelan project with young offenders

Henley

2014

Music Education Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper discusses new empirical evidence for a positive relationship between musical learning and desistance from crime. On investigating the learning processes occurring within a Javanese gamelan project in a young offender's institution, parallels between musical learning processes and the development of certain attributes linked to desistance from crime emerged. The desistance paradigm centres on changing a criminal identity through the development of social and personal attributes, which resonate with recent research on the transformative effects of music and how musical identity can be changed positively through active and successful music-making. The research was carried out in a UK Young Offender's Institution involving 19 young people between the ages of 18 and 24 over a period of eight weeks. Participant observation was used as the main research tool. This paper presents two participant stories to illustrate the personal development and the social development that can be gained as a result of the project. These are discussed in the context of successful musical learning and the suggestion is made that musical learning and developing the attributes essential for inspiring desistance from crime arise from shared learning processes. The Good Vibrations Javanese gamelan projectGood Vibrations is a charity that works with prisons, young offenders' institutions, secure hospitals and ex-offenders in the community to develop life and work skills (www.goodvibrations.org.uk). A Good Vibrations project typically lasts for one week, offering an intensive musical experience for between 15 and 20 people. During the project, participants engage in creative activities, through improvisation and composition, as well as performance activities related to learning traditional Javanese gamelan pieces and exploring dance, puppetry and wider Javanese culture. The Good Vibrations curriculum is carefully designed so that participants gradually build their music-making skills through the week, whilst fostering social development through team-building and group-work activities. A typical Good Vibrations module plan is shown in Appendix 1. As the week progresses, the module plan becomes more flexible to allow for choice as to what the participants work on and participants are fully involved in the decisions made during the week as to the content of the sessions. *

show abstract

Section: Desistance From Crimementioning

confidence: 96%

Musical learning and desistance from crime: the case of a ‘Good Vibrations’ Javanese gamelan project with young offenders

Henley

2014

Music Education Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Research suggests that the capacity of arts‐based programmes to deliver these benefits inside prisons is largely due to the immediate learning environment that they cultivate and in which they operate; an environment that is democratic (Duguid ; Tett et al . ), supportive (Williams ; Miles and Clarke ; Lazzari, Amundson and Jackson ) and attentive to emotions (Digard and Liebling ). More specifically, unlike conventional forms of prison education (and unlike the prison institution itself, for that matter), arts‐based programmes promote constant dialogue between participants, create a platform for the provision of constructive criticism to each one of them, and enable self‐reflection and emotional openness.…”

Section: Learning Capacity and Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Arts of Desistance: Assessing the Role of Arts-based Programmes in Reducing Reoffending

Cheliotis

Jordanoska

2015

The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…To be sure, as discussed previously, the evidence confirms that these programmes clearly have therapeutic value and contribute to secondary desistance (Arts Alliance ; Bielby, Caulfield and Ridley ; Tett et al . ). Yet the lessons from the study of arts programmes reveals that their true value consists of the unleashing of inmates’ creative potential and, in some cases, the transformation and redefinition of the self as an ‘artist’.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

The Challenge of Redefining the Imprisoned Self as an Artist: The Pedagogical Rituals of a Prison Arts Instructor

Michalski

2018

Howard J Crime Justice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

While some advocate the use of arts programmes to help improve inmates’ lives and reduce recidivism, the process of how such programmes can have therapeutic and practical value in prison's hostile environs requires further study. This project investigates how one prison arts instructor approaches the task of developing the inmates’ creative potential and unleashing their ‘inner artist’. The article describes the pedagogical approach aimed at helping prison inmates redefine themselves as artists via art classroom rituals. The imprisoned self as the artist, however, emerges mainly as a temporary identity that must be submerged upon return to the daily routines of hypermasculine prison environments. Thus inmates experience a profound duality of their identities, split between ‘artist’ and ‘inmate’, which constrains the long‐term therapeutic and rehabilitative value of the intervention.

show abstract

Learning, rehabilitation and the arts in prisons: a Scottish case study

Cited by 46 publications

References 24 publications

Musical learning and desistance from crime: the case of a ‘Good Vibrations’ Javanese gamelan project with young offenders

Musical learning and desistance from crime: the case of a ‘Good Vibrations’ Javanese gamelan project with young offenders

The Arts of Desistance: Assessing the Role of Arts-based Programmes in Reducing Reoffending

The Challenge of Redefining the Imprisoned Self as an Artist: The Pedagogical Rituals of a Prison Arts Instructor

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About