Arts work in criminal justice settings can be liberating for participants but can also present challenging issues. Susan Ashmore suggests that workshop leaders need training to handle the problems that can arise.
An art workshop can engage and captivate; drama can stimulate the body and the intellect; dance can release tensions and open the mind. But what can happen when the mind is opened? With the current emphasis on working within social-inclusion settings (youth work, community engagement, criminal justice, etc), many young artists and arts organisations are finding their services in demand, but are ill-equipped to enter the fray. When artists are skilled in their field and able to demonstrate excellence in an artform, it is rare that they also have the skills that contextualise their work.
My own early experience as an artist-performer demonstrates exactly what can happen without appropriate training. I was young, enthusiastic and loved to hold workshops and put on shows directing young people who were often marginalised. However, I was often working with people whilst unaware of their background history or vulnerabilities. I was running a drama workshop one dark November evening in a community hall with young people I knew and trusted. It was a session with people of mixed abilities including one young woman, who in age was mature, but in mental ability was much less capable than the rest. Her background was one of neglect, abuse and inconsistent parenting. Her social worker (I didn?t know she had a social worker) was aware that any physical contact with her could cause upset or worse. One exercise in the forum theatre-type session involved touching or ?tagging? a person to get them to come into the centre of the circle and take over the group; I tried to move the situation on by tagging her. Her response was to attack me and hold me captive for two hours. One of the group had to get help and I was completely unable to move from her very strong grip as she held me over a banister, three floors up.
Many organisations employ artists to work within prisons settings, and many prisons have bad experiences of artists who are not able to manage a situation. I have been attacked in prisons and in the community whilst working within probation and youth justice settings. It?s part of the role ? not an everyday part, but it can happen. My training in social work and criminology enabled me to see the benefits of skills such as Socratic questioning and cognitive behavioural techniques: techniques that challenge and question the attitudes that people in these settings often employ to get through life. When using these skills to back up my drama, performance and visual art experience I feel confident that I will not do damage or put myself or others at risk but practice skillfully to the betterment of all. Don?t get me wrong, I am not saying artists should be social workers! Excellent examples of organisations working in the field such as Dance United, Clean Break Theatre Company, Escape Artists and Geese Theatre, to name but a few, show how we can still place an emphasis on the arts.
As a trainer I have observed some awful techniques, and we should be in the business of telling people if they are ill-prepared for the tasks at hand. That is why it is so important that we engage skilled professionals to prepare a training event and to carefully work out appropriate materials but, more importantly, not to practise these skills after a one-off session but to seek further training and to continue in their professional development. It is important that the most up-to-date information and guidance is given to practitioners; it is equally as important that these practitioners can provide evidence of their qualification to agencies and organisations buying their services. With this professional approach we can be assured that prisons, youth justice teams, youth centres, hospital and community settings will then be confident in our practice and encourage the use of the arts and the work of artists.
In 2001, the Unit for The Arts and Offenders ? now The Anne Peaker Centre for Arts in Criminal Justice - launched its training programme through its delivery agent the National Training Consortium for Arts in Criminal Justice (NTCACJ). This spearheaded the development of relevant professional training programmes for all those engaged in arts-based work within social inclusion settings. The NTCACJ is the national body for the training of professionals engaged in arts-based practice addressing a range key social inclusion agendas. It continues to lead the development and refinement of all its training programmes to meet the needs of professionals working with the challenges of current and changing sectors.
Susan Ashmore is Chief Executive of the Anne Peaker Centre for Arts in Criminal Justice
t: 01227 471006;
e: ceo@apcentre.org.uk;
w: http://www.apcentre.org.uk