Rojiani, R., Junn, A., Wood, M., Gordon, K.L. and Sells, D. (2021). Group drumming for incarcerated men may improve community reintegration: a mixed methods pilot study.
Journal of Experimental Criminology.
Author Affiliations: Harvard Medical School, Yale School of Medicine, Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health
Artforms: Drumming, music
Program: NA
Program Description: Eight weeks of group drumming sessions, each weekly session lasting approximately one hour.
Program (Study) Location: Two halfway house work-release programs, New Haven, Connecticut
Study Published: May 13, 2021
Participant Type: Adult male probationers
Sample Size: 28
Data Type: Quantitative and qualitative exploratory pilot investigation. Twenty-eight residents were randomized to the group drumming treatment arm or to treatment as usual. Interviews to assess self-reported benefits took place after completion of eight-week session.
Evaluation Focus: Halfway house retention rate, self-reported benefit
Summary of Impact: Average attendance was 6.9 (out of a total of 8). Retention rate
in the drumming group was 100% compared with 63.3% in the control group.
Post-session interviews revealed that drumming served as a method for coping with
stress, as an opportunity for connection through building relationships and experiencing
communion and as an avenue for personal growth, particularly toward re-humanization
and self-empowerment.
KEYWORDS: adult, community, drumming, halfway house, music, parole, probation,
personal growth, relationship, retention rate, reintegration, self-empowerment, stress
Prison Arts Resource Project 