هنر درمانی با زندانیان: یک مطالعه مقدماتی

There are major obstacles for providing therapeutic services in correctional settings. Many inmates have an inherent mistrust for verbal disclosure, and a well-grounded fear of other prisoners taking advantage of voiced vulnerabilities. Rigid defenses are developed for basic survival. Despite these obstacles there has been some support for art therapy as a means to allow needed expression in such a non-therapeutic environment. Unfortunately, there has been little structured and quantitative research to actually measure the benefits of art therapy in prison. A quantitative research pilot study was initiated in the summer of 2003 to measure the effectiveness of art therapy with prison inmates. This pilot study presents the methods established, including the use of the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (Gantt & Tabone, 1998) and a pre- and post-survey designed by the investigator, the results and future plans for studying the effects of art therapy with prison inmates.

Upon review of the hypothesis on whether or not art therapy was effective in improving mood, socialization, problem-solving, behavior and attitude in prison inmates, the answer, based on the outcome of this study, is partially yes and partially inconclusive. However, even the affirmative answers remain tentative. The results of the study quantitatively support that the art therapy was beneficial for the participants. There was corroboration for a marked improvement in the participants’ mood and a decrease in depressive symptoms as suggested by positive changes in five of the FEATS scales (prominence of color, color fit, energy, details of objects and environment and space) as well as the responses on the pre- and post-surveys and observations. A change in behavior and attitude was supported by the results of the pre- and post- survey. An increase in socialization skills was also supported by the responses on the pre- and post-survey and also by the observations of the art therapists providing the groups. Change in socialization and improved interaction can also be inferred from some of the changes in the FEATS results. In order for change to occur on several of the scales, such as increased space, more details and greater compositional integration, it was believed that a greater awareness of the participants’ surroundings needed to develop. This suggested an increased acceptance of each other and the environment, which may produce improved interaction with peers and staff. However, despite the strength of this evidence, it is not entirely clear from this study whether or not the changes were caused by the art therapy sessions, as there was no control group on which to compare. A follow-up study hopes to clarify these results. Despite some shortcomings in this study, the evidence from this quasi-experimental pilot study provided the opportunity to further the research by obtaining quantitative data to support the benefits of art therapy in prison settings. Establishing a better evaluation tool, limiting the number of clinicians offering the services, extending the period of time that the sessions will be conducted, randomizing the sample and creating a control group will strengthen the results on the follow-up study.