Arts-in-Corrections: Beyond Traditional Rehabilitative Programming

• In Event: Arts and Education in Male and Female Prisons

Abstract

In our current correctional environment, institutional and community programs are increasingly called upon to demonstrate their effectiveness and measurable outcomes that benefit both the participant and society. In 2014, the California Arts Council, in partnership with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, received funding to reinstate the Arts in Corrections (AIC) programs, offering inmates an alternative to traditional programming and education throughout correctional facilities in California. Through a collaboration with the William James Association, the University of San Francisco, and San Diego Miramar College, we have conducted focus groups with formerly and currently incarcerated AIC participants (as well as control group members) and AIC teachers in which six theories are being examined as mechanisms for participant behavioral change, which should lead to reduced recidivism after release from incarceration. Analysis of the focus group transcripts is underway in order to determine which theoretical frameworks most adequately capture the effectiveness of AIC. Future directions will be discussed.

Authors

• Emma Conner, University of California, Irvine

• Gabriela Gonzalez, University of California, Irvine

• Marina Bell, University of California, Irvine

• Susan Turner, University of California, Irvine