Exploring music therapy in a Norwegian prison through participatory arts based action research

• In Event: Methodology and prison

Abstract

This paper presents a study of music therapy with prison inmates in a Norwegian low security prison. With a focus on bespoke strategies for participatory arts-based action research the paper discusses the methodological basis for the study and its particular relevance for qualitative approaches to criminology and penal studies. Drawing on the domains of performance ethnography, cultural criminology and arts-based research the paper elucidates musical performance as an epistemic practice. With the adoption of a critical and reflexive perspective, the paper draws on case examples from songwriting, studio recordings and live musical performances in the prison to illustrate the analytic significance of using music as data. The paper discusses challenges and possibilities of participant involvement in prison research, and highlights how engaging in entangled processes of creative performance and reflection afforded a sense of identity and community for the participants.

Author

• Kjetil Hjørnevik, University of Bergen, Norway