Project Type: Juvenile

Williams, R. Marie-Crane. (June 2008). The Status and Praxis of Arts Education and Juvenile Offenders in Correctional Facilities in the United States. The Journal of Correctional Education, (59) 2, 107-126.

Williams, R. Marie-Crane. (June 2008). The Status and Praxis of Arts Education and Juvenile Offenders in Correctional Facilities in the United States. The Journal of Correctional Education, (59) 2, 107-126.

Author Affiliations: University of Iowa
Artforms: Dance, music, theater, visual arts
Program: NA
Program Description: NA
Program (Study) Location: U.S., and “Northeastern Training School (pseudonym)
Participant Type: Public residential juvenile correctional facilities
Sample Size: 175 respondents
Study Published: June 2008
Data Type: Quantitative and Qualitative: survey, interviews, case study; survey sent to all (478) public residential juvenile correctional facilities in U.S.
Evaluation Focus: Summarized the results of a national study conducted in 2001 sponsored by the National Art Education Association, which explored the intersection of arts education and corrections in residential detention facilities for juvenile offenders. Research questions were:
●  What is the status of arts education in public juvenile correctional facilities?
●  What do programs that combine art with juvenile justice and community re-entrance look like?
●  Why do the arts matter to juvenile offenders?

Summary of Impact:
●  36.6% (175) of 458 facilities responded to the survey.
●  57.14% of responding institutions had arts programs.
●  42.86% had no arts programming.
●  69% had long-term arts programming, most meeting daily.
●  23% had short-term programs, 35% of these met weekly.
●  most program sessions, both long-term and short-term, lasted less than one hour but more than 30 minutes.
●  73% of arts programs focused on visual arts.
●  9% on music/theater.
●  75 on visual arts/music.
●  4% on music/theater/dance.
●  3% on visual arts/theater.
●  2% on visual arts/dance.
●  1% theater.
●  1% music only.
●  65% used a written curriculum.
●  certified art teachers created over 55% of written curricula.
●  more than 50% of programs received funding from state sources.
●  20% of programs received funding from state arts programs.
●  10% were funded by state monies with private grants.
●  donations or petty cash funded less than 5%.
●  86% of respondents did not indicate whether the budget included the cost of a teacher/artist/facilitator.
●  34% of programs participated in some form of evaluation.
●  62% had no formal evaluation data.
●  more participants were male but, proportionally, more participants were female.
●  22% had mandatory participating.
●  20% participation was recommended by a teacher, counselor or staff member.
●  Staff and volunteers of the “Northeastern Training School” stated in interviews that the arts provided students with an appropriate outlet for their feelings.

KEYWORDS: dance, emotions, juvenile, music, theater, visual arts, youth

Wolf, Dennie Palmer and Holochwost, Steven. (2015). Our Voices Count: The Potential Impact of Strength-Based Music Programs in Juvenile Justice Settings.

Wolf, Dennie Palmer and Holochwost, Steven. (2015). Our Voices Count: The Potential Impact of Strength-Based Music Programs in Juvenile Justice Settings.

Author Affiliations: WolfBrown
Artforms: Choir, music, songwriting
Program: Our Voices Count
Program Description: Juvenile offenders in detention facilities participated in a 12-session program spanning two weeks during which they participate in a choir performing a traditional repertoire while also writing their own songs and lyrics. Our Voices Count was a collaborative project between Carnegie Hall’s Musical Connections program and the New York City Administration for Children’s Services.
Program (Study) Location: Two secure juvenile detention facilities in New York City
Participant Type: Male and female youth offenders, average age 15 years Sample Size: 54
Study Published: Organizational publication, 2015
Data Type: Mixed-methods design using pre- and post-residency assessment. Evaluation Focus: Whether ensemble-based music could create a more positive environment inside secure detention facilities as well as stronger social relations, more constructive behavior and a changed sense of self among participants.

Summary of Impact:
●  At both facilities, reduction in participants’ externalizing, or acting-out behaviors following participation in program.
●  Across facilities 75% of participants completed the program, earning a half-course credit toward high-school graduation from their on-site or future New York City high school.
●  Nearly two thirds of young people across both facilities reported spending time between sessions working on music in their free time, thus “acting as agents to set and work towards a longer-term goal.”
●  More than two thirds of residents reported working with other offenders, professional artists, and facility staff, during rehearsal and during free-time activities.
●  Nearly half of participants reported changes in multiple areas of personal well-being including positive emotional state, sense of achievement, self-esteem and self-confidence.
●  Participants at one facility had statistically higher rates of earning high-school credit, built stronger social networks, were more likely to complete the program and exhibited lower levels of disengaged or disruptive behaviors than at the other facility.
●  The facility where youth demonstrated these gains had steadily reduced use of involuntary room confinements and physical restraints, versus the second facility.

KEYWORDS: choir, confidence, juvenile, music, sense of self, social skills, voice, youth