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- Volume 3, Issue 1, 2010
International Journal of Community Music - Volume 3, Issue 1, 2010
Volume 3, Issue 1, 2010
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Music education in prisons: A historical overview
By Roc LeeThe purpose of this article is to examine the history and state of current research in the field of music education in prisons. Music education in prisons has existed since the mid-nineteenth century, but research in the field has been sparse. However, in the past twenty years, there has been a surge of activity in this field, marking a noticeable shift in the attitude of educators towards this type of research. The awareness of music educators to issues of social justice in recent years has caused a dramatic increase in the research on music in prisons. Hopefully knowledge of the history of music education in prisons will help to create a stronger foundation for further research.
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On punishment and music education: Towards a practice for prisons and schools
By Eric ShiehReflecting on the successes and challenges of his work as a prison music educator in four correctional facilities, the author suggests a framework for a music education that resists authoritarianism, allows for agency and engages with society. Focusing particularly on the societal context and consequences of prison as a place of punishment, he argues that such a framework must take as its point of departure a democratic and a critical pedagogical orientation that opposes the deficit models present in most US prison education programmes. Characteristic of this orientation, then, would be conceptualizations of the teacher as facilitator, musical knowledge as creative expression, classroom as community and performance as action. These conceptualizations further make visible the limitations of traditional approaches to school music education, and draw attention to the degree to which traditional approaches to schooling problematically approach prisons in their disciplinary function.
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The California arts-in-corrections music programme: A qualitative study
More LessThe California Arts-in-Corrections (AIC) programme was one of the first prison arts programmes in the nation. In 1983, this author conducted a costbenefit study of the programme and found it to be cost-effective. Twenty-five years later, this article reports the findings of a qualitative evaluation of the AIC music programme through in-depth interviews with ex-offenders who were students in the programme. The six men interviewed are a diverse group as measured by race, age and crimes committed. They self-reported that AIC taught them a disciplined, focused work ethic, leading to enhanced self-esteem, and it changed their experience of doing time. Four earn a living through their art, and all self-identify as artists. AIC helped to bridge the racial divide and provided a safe haven in an otherwise hostile environment. In a few cases their art helped them to reconnect with family.
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Engaging Scottish young offenders in education through music and art
Authors: Kirstin Anderson and Katie OveryThis study examined music and art classes as a way to engage young offenders in education, and to see if such engagement had an effect on their further participation in education, self-esteem, self-control, behaviour and literacy skills. The arts are often discussed as being an inviting and safe method of entry for young offenders who may have had negative experiences with previous education in their formative years. Fourteen young offenders at Her Majesty's Young Offender Institution (HM YOI) Polmont in Scotland voluntarily participated in this ten-week study. Participants were divided into three groups: music, art and a control education group. They completed pre- and post-interviews and measures that examined their emotions, self-esteem, self-control and literacy skills. Behavioural reports and enrollment in education courses were reviewed for three months before and after the project. Results indicated increased engagement with education during and after the project for individuals in the music and art groups.
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I'll keep on living after I die: Musical manipulation and transcendence at Louisiana State Penitentiary
More LessAs the brutal practices of Southern prison farms ended, so too did the African- American work songs at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. The work of song, however, continues. Music offers today's inmates important transcendent experiences. Inmates say that music gives them a floating sensation, freedom, and power. Music facilitates a sense of privacy and re-inhabitation of life before incarceration in the form of musical sanctuary. At the same time, music does work for the institution, both in service of custody and public relations. This article examines the tensions within these different types of work, focusing on musical expression and introversion of older life-term inmates as they attempt to transcend prison aesthetically and strategically.
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Music for mothers and babies living in a prison: A report on a special production of BebBab
Authors: Helena Rodrigues, Anabela Leite, Cristina Faria, Irene Monteiro and Paulo Maria RodriguesBbBb is a project that combines education and artistic performance in a process that is centred on music, babies and their parents. We discovered that previous productions resulted in a very strong bonding among parents and babies, families and the community. In 2008 we implemented a special production in a prison in Oporto where mothers live with their own children until the age of four. Here we describe the ideas, goals and strategies of the project, we look at its artistic aspects and we report the impact it had on the participants, based on interviews conducted after the project was concluded. The report of this practical work is integrated in a reflection about the general issue of music in prison, and we explain why we believe BebBab can be a case study helping to establish guidelines for future work, particularly in the case of imprisoned mothers and babies.
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Re-sounding: Refuge and reprise in a prison choral community
More LessThis article examines a men's prison chorus in a close security Ohio prison. The purpose of the project is, broadly, to understand how a men's prison choral community (UMOJA) impacts inmate self-perception, intra-group relationships and external connections. These external connections include choral recordings where the proceeds from the CD sales benefit charities of the inmates' choosing. This component helps the prisoners connect with the larger society outside prison. To this end, the following research questions were investigated: (1) How does the inmates' participation in UMOJA affect their experience of daily life in prison including their self perception? (2) How does musical performance, especially of inmate-composed choral repertoire, affect the choir as a community (intra-group, relationships, external connections)? Throughout the article the men's names have been changed to protect their privacy.
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Bowing in the right direction: Hiland Mountain Correctional Center women's string orchestra programme
More LessThe Hiland Mountain Correctional Center, a 400-bed facility for multi-level adult female offenders in Eagle River, Alaska, offers a unique educational programme to its prisoners: an orchestra. Founded in 2003, by volunteer Pati Crofut, orchestra membership grew from eight to 22 female offenders between 2003 and 2009. Crofut has devoted her time and energy to the group and helped initiate the ensemble along with a non-profit organization to promote the programme, Arts on the Edge. Through the efforts of Crofut, the prison and the hired conductors, the all-female orchestra performs twice a year in the facility and the experiences provide opportunities for the inmates to appreciate music. Primary source data included interviews with Pati Crofut and Gabrielle Willis, one of the orchestra conductors. This article offers suggestions for how this programme may guide future community music programmes and be a model for similar programmes in progress.
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Singing with conviction: New Zealand prisons and Maori populations
More LessThis article describes the Singing with Conviction pilot project (SWCPP) facilitated by Arts Access Aotearoa in the New Zealand prison system in 200405. The pilot project was modelled in part on competitive prison singing groups in South Africa, with adaptations made for the New Zealand cultural context. The analysis proceeds in two steps. First, I describe the pilot project, placing it in relation to a more-encompassing arts strategy for marginalized prison populations. Second, I explore ethnic dimensions of the SWCPP related to New Zealand's Maori population, quantifying the disproportionate representation of Maori persons in New Zealand's prisons and summarizing recent efforts to incorporate indigenous Maori modes of punishment and dispute resolution within New Zealand's criminal justice system. I conclude with general reflections on how a prison choir project might better serve a bicultural population.
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If I Cry for You. Turning unspoken trauma into song and musical theatre
More LessThrough a carefully guided process of sharing personal stories, Storycatchers Theatre (the new name for Music Theatre Workshop) has prepared young people to make more positive life choices through the process of writing, producing and performing original musical theatre since 1984. The Fabulous Females program for girls incarcerated at the Illinois Youth Center (IYC) in Warrenville, Illinois, began in 2002. Fabulous Females provides a safe environment for girls to reveal past traumatic experiences, often of extreme physical and sexual abuse, helping them connect their emotional reactions to subsequent negative choices and incarceration. Through the year-long process, these painful stories take on a life of their own as the girls translate them into scenes and song. Empowered by their creativity, they begin to heal and to believe in their capacity to move on with their lives. This article summarizes and highlights the amazing and powerful work of Storycatchers Theatre.
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Creativity inside and outside prison walls: A journey of inspiration
More LessA comprehensive re-integration process that includes writing, poetry, music and drama may reduce recidivism and produce productive citizens. Creative thinking through such artistic activities can assist anyone beyond prison walls to survive the hustle and bustle of everyday life challenges. As part of these diverse disciplines of the arts, a person can learn to write a rsum by using creative writing skills, be a leader in their community, conduct a business meeting and, yes, even become famous like actor Charles Dutton from the 1990s' sitcom Roc, who was in prison. An individual can learn how to use creativity to keep them from returning to prison. I am a part of what The Arts can offer HOPE CHANGE SECOND CHANCES.
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Cim ar Chim, Step by Step Community music programme in an Irish probation centre: A personal reflection
More LessProactive instruction and alternative education have progressively become the schooling of choice for many non-traditional learners in Ireland. Community training, probation and Traveller support centers endeavour to take an existing curriculum and tailor it to such learners' needs. One community based education and training centre funded by the Probation and Welfare Services, Cim ar Chim, is located on the north side of Limerick city.When built in 1973, it was considered to be a state-of-the-art area. Today, however, this area has been named the murder capital of Western Europe; violence and crime rates are high while 50 per cent of the population is under 24 (Cusack 2006). This article offers a reflection on the experience of a tutor and community musician working in this environment. I hope to demonstrate how up-skilling the existing staff and increasing student-to-staff/tutor ratio in addition to other factors dramatically changed the dynamic within this place of learning.
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Free inside: The music class at Santa Ana Jail
By Joe FierroThis article examines the workings of the music class at the Santa Ana Jail in Santa Ana, California. It gives us insight into a jail system and a music class focused on helping inmates position themselves to become productive members of society. In this article I examine how the facility encourages inmates' good behaviour and why the music class is a place where students can release their stress as well as have an outlet for their creativity. The music class creates an environment where the students can change their thinking and therefore truly believe that they can do things differently.
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Risk taker extraordinaire: An interview with Elvera Voth
By Mary L CohenElvera Voth has been a role model and mentor for me since I first saw her conduct the East Hill Singers in 2003. After her professional choral career in Anchorage, Alaska, she returned to her native state of Kansas with an idea to teach prisoners to sing. In 1995 she founded the East Hill Singers, a men's chorus comprised of minimum security prisoners incarcerated at the Lansing Correctional Facility and of male community volunteer singers. After Robert Shaw led a singalong to support her prison choir, the non-profit organization Arts in Prison, Inc. began in 1998 in order to help develop other arts-based courses for prisoners. In this interview she reflects on her time conducting the East Hill Singers and the West Wall Singers (a chorus in the maximum unit at Lansing), prison education and her newest community music project.
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