“We Are More Than Jailbirds”: An Arts Program for Incarcerated Young Women

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a qualitative study of the effects of an innovative arts project on incarcerated female juvenile offenders. In this project, a professional artist engages and guides the detainees in the creation of individual and collaborative artistic works. The works of art are produced for museum display to enhance the development of the young women's self-identity and to draw public attention to the incarceration of young women in the juvenile justice system. The findings of this study are corroborated and supported by relational-cultural and self-efficacy theoretical perspectives.

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

“…The opportunities afforded to participants for non‐verbal expression can help remove the conscious and unconscious defences they might otherwise employ in relation to their past offending conduct and the harm thereby inflicted upon others . It has similarly been found that by enhancing self‐efficacy, arts‐in‐prisons programmes help offenders explore and develop prosocial identities and positive relationships with others by exercising responsible choice (Lazzari, Amundson and Jackson ; see also Harkins et al . ).…”

“…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.…”

“…Not dissimilarly, arts‐based programmes have been credited with advancing desistance by way of providing prisoners with concrete vocational skills (Ezell and Levy ; Harkins et al . ) and inspiring a positive outlook as to one's vocational success upon release (Ezell and Levy ; Irene Taylor Trust ; Goddard ; Lazzari, Amundson and Jackson ; Cox and Gelsthorpe ; De Viggiani, Macintosh and Lang ). Particularly as concerns the acquisition of vocational skills, it has repeatedly been found to constitute a crucial step towards securing and maintaining regular employment after release, itself a strong predictor of ‘primary desistance’ from crime (Uggen, Wakefield and Western ).…”

The Relationship Between Matching Service to Criminogenic Need and Recidivism in Male and Female Youth

“…More recently, girls are drawing increased attention from researchers, policy makers, and corrections staff because girls appear to be growing in relative proportion to boys throughout the justice system. In addition, girls' rate of involvement in violent crime appears to be on the rise, and there has been an increase in publicized assaults, drug violations, and public order offenses involving young females (Lazzari, Amundson, & Jackson, 2005;Leschied, Cummings, Van Brunschot, Cunningham, & Saunders, 2001;Sprott & Doob, 2003).…”

Effects Of Integrated Arts Therapy Intervention In Youngsters At Risk For Delinquency

“…Several previous evidence-based studies have found improved general self-esteem for justice-involved youth participating in the arts programs (Clawson & Coolbaugh, 2001;Ezell & Levy, 2003;Lazzari et al, 2005;Shelton, 2009); and for juvenile delinquents who have engaged in the art (Hartz & Thick, 2005) and music (Johnson, 1981;Baker & Homan, 200;Rio & Tenney, 2002) therapy programs, whereby art therapy have improved also aggressive youngsters' general self-esteem (Alavinezhada et al, 2013). These results are parallel with findings supporting the view that adolescents low rather than high self-evaluation is related to offending (Van Damme et al, 2015), with giving an avenue for the justified criticism (Smeijsters, et al, 2011) that focusing only on changing delinquent behavoior is not successful if youngsters self-esteem is not addressed as a target of arts therapy interventions.…”