بررسی اثرات هنر درمانی با زندانیان: یک مطالعه پیگیری

A pilot study conducted to measure the effects of art therapy with prison inmates (Gussak, 2004) demonstrated marked improvement in mood. The results of this study encouraged a quantitative follow-up study the following year. This study used the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS) and the Beck Depression Inventory-Short Form (BDI-II) as pre and post-test assessments to assess the effects that art therapy had on an adult male prison population, specifically on decreasing depression and improving socialization skills. A control group pre-test/post-test design was implemented for this study. An experimental group members attended group art therapy for eight weeks, one session per week. They also completed the assessments prior to, and at the end of the sessions. A control group did not receive the services but still completed the pre and post-test assessments during the same amount of time. The changes in BDI-II scores and the scores of all 14 categories of the FEATS from pretest to posttest (i.e., post-test score – pre-test score) were calculated and the differences were analyzed using independent-sample t tests to find differences between the experimental and control groups. The BDI-II results supported the assumption that art therapy was effective in reducing depression in the adult male inmates. The results from the FEATS, however, did not yield supportive data. Thus, although the art therapy was effective with the experimental population, the quantitative results were mixed. This article concludes with a case vignette that supports the notion that art therapy was effective, and an explanation on why the FEATS may not have been as effective a measurement tool in this particular study.

Upon review of the hypothesis on whether or not art therapy was effective in improving mood in prison inmates, the answer, based on the outcome of this study, is partially yes for depression. The results of the BDI-II and the anecdotal, qualitative data support that art therapy was beneficial for the participants. Feedback from the correctional officers, staff psychologists and the participants support this conclusion. However, as noted, for various possible reasons, the results from the FEATS did not support this claim. Despite these difficulties, overall this study seemed to provide useful evidence for the benefits of art therapy in prison. Establishing better evaluation tools, eliminating repeat study participants to decrease familiarity with any art-based assessment, and increasing the number of participants may strengthen the results in future studies.