An evaluation of an arts program for incarcerated juvenile offenders

Follow-up on Previous Workshop Participants

Of those students who participated in workshops during 1995-96, and who completed their stay at institutions, 29 were released prior to May 1, 1996. A list of these youth's names and juvenile justice identification numbers was given to the evaluator in order to conduct follow-up research. Five cases were dropped from the sample because the information needed to track them in the state's juvenile justice information system could not be located. The follow-up sample, therefore, consisted of 24 youth. This aspect of the study focused on the six month time period after institutional release. Of the 24 follow-up youth, 16.7% (4) recidivated within the six month follow-up period. The six-month recidivism rate for the Class of 1992, which is what we used as a benchmark, was 32.9% (Washington State, 1987).

Discussion

As a result of three years of evaluative research, ACW had a very positive impact on the youth who participated. Workshop goals were accomplished to a very high degree, concrete vocational skills were acquired, and youth had positive feelings of goal accomplishment. Further, while involved in workshops, youth compliance with institutional rules was high and their behavior less disruptive. Finally, the results begin to suggest that involvement in the art workshops has longer term effects as evidenced by relatively lower recidivism for participants.

A significant finding of this evaluation is the impact of the arts workshops on youth behavior while in the institution. Participation in the workshops significantly reduced rule breaking and misbehavior. The finding of improved behavior by individual youth takes on even more meaning if viewed at an institution-wide level. If all of the juvenile offenders in a 200-bed institution, for example, participate in workshops, one would expect significantly fewer incidents per month. With improved youth behavior safety increases, injuries to staff and youth are greatly diminished, and the amount of time staff can use for constructive work is greatly increased.

The analysis of recidivism, while promising, must be interpreted very cautiously. Youth may have turned 18 in the follow-up period or may have moved out of state and, therefore, no subsequent offenses or convictions would show up in the Washington state juvenile justice information system. Besides this weakness in the research, as well as a very small nonrandom sample, readers should view these particular findings as preliminary. Nevertheless, the trends are promising and more extensive research should be conducted to ascertain more exact estimates of arts programs' impact on recidivism.

An analysis of comments by youth as well as the artists' observations indicate that four major processes occur with the participants in this arts program: connecting, expressing, learning, and discovery. Workshops emphasize experiential learning to facilitate the youths' search for solutions to real issues while developing academic and vocational skills. The participating youth forge deep connections with artists, with their pasts, their emotions, and with each other as they develop and expand their talents and techniques to express their pain, joy, and hope. Workshops demonstrate to students the significance of their own experiences and voices, and provide an environment in which they could experience success.