Rhizomatic affective spaces and the therapeutic potential of music in prison: a qualitative meta-synthesis

Abstract

Research literature supports that music programmes in prisons can have a therapeutic effect in prisoners' lives that could promote personal development and assist the process towards desistance. The authors use a meta-synthetic approach to examine 12 qualitative articles published worldwide to explore the therapeutic potential of such programmes. The findings suggest that music programmes in prison are perceived by participating prisoners as a liberating process which encourages participation and allows for non-coercive personal development. The therapeutic potential of music programmes is located in the combination of the benefits emanating from the effect and practice of music and the creation of mental, spatial and temporal zones of free expression and those that derive from the egalitarian and non-authoritative approach employed by the facilitators. These A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t 2 findings are discussed along with aspects involved in the provision of offender treatment as well as factors that affect treatment response and engagement.

The role of music among prisoners and prison staff: A qualitative research study

“…This line of thought resembles the conclusion of Kougiali et al (2018) in their metasynthetic study examining 12 qualitative articles in order to explore the therapeutic potential of music programs in prison. They suggest that music activates rhizomatic affective spaces in prison, a process in which music might disrupt the prison experience and create affective spaces to which prisoners can escape in order to cope and regain hope before returning to their everyday routine.…”

“…This strategy relates to the daily self-exposure of prisoners to music; however, it is consistent with studies examining the influence of a less spontaneous exposure to music, in the form of music therapy and educational programs within prison. Studies stress the sense of freedom experienced through such programs, which enabled prisoners to temporarily escape the authoritative and institutionalized environment thus experiencing freedom, hope, happiness and joy (Bilby et al, 2013;Brewster, 2010;De Viggiani et al, 2010;Kougiali et al, 2018;Tuastad and O'Grady, 2013;Winder et al, 2015). This may be explained by Pratt (1990), who contended that spaces are not just physical and therefore music can generate 'enclaves of autonomy,' non-physical spaces that create an alternative psychological reality, an imaginary 'new life' within the existing one.…”

“…Evidence indicates that prisoners are exposed to music in diverse ways. They participate in choirs (for example, Silber, 2005); create, write, listen to and perform music (for example, Daykin et al, 2012); and take part in educational (for example, Anderson and Overy, 2010) as well as therapeutic (for example, O'Grady, 2011) processes via music within the criminal justice system (for a qualitative meta-synthesis, see Kougiali et al, 2018).…”

“…From the perspective of the psychological 'pains of confinement,' including the loss of liberty, the deprivation of autonomy and the frustration of sexual desire (Sykes, 1958), research literature has suggested that art programs in prison are essential to coping with pains of imprisonment (Kougiali et al, 2018). According to Kougiali et al (2018), prisoners' descriptions of their participation in music programs can be explained as 'rhizomatic (i.e., non-hierarchical, multiple, complex and non-linear, with ceaseless and shifting connections, attractions, meanings and influences) affective spaces' that can temporally and spatially disrupt the pains of imprisonment. The non-authoritative and egalitarian approach usually employed by the music instructors enables the development of socially safe spaces within music groups, promoting autonomy and the conceptualization of an agentic self.…”

The pedagogy of a prison and community music programme: Spaces for conflict and safety

“…The research methodologies used in the wider body of both prison music and community music research recognize the complexities of the research context and sound arguments are made for the use of qualitative approaches (Matsunobu and Bresler 2014;Kougiali, Einat and Liebling 2018), yet the evaluation culture of measurement is pushing researchers to use quantitative methodologies that may not be appropriate to the types of research questions being asked (Lonie 2018). Finally, knowing that the funding of future projects rests on the evaluation of current projects puts researchers in a potentially difficult position.…”