The arts can play an important role in rehabilitation of offenders and can be an important plank in preventing recidivism. Susan Ashmore explains how the arts can engage with offenders.
?Prisoners shouldn?t be doing art, they should be breaking rocks? was just one of the comments I received when informing someone of my new role as Chief Executive Officer for the Unit for the Arts and Offenders. For many reasons ? some more valid than others ? the idea of using the arts in a criminal-justice setting seems to stir up strong opinions. Some people picture tortured souls locked in solitary confinement painting bleak watercolours. Others imagine ?worthy? drama groups desperately trying to encourage lifers to engage with modern-dress Shakespeare (?let?s put on the show right here!?).
Changing attitudes
Engaging offenders in art projects in prisons and in the wider criminal-justice system is by no means a new idea, and, of course, the concept is much broader than the two scenarios pictured above. A significant step in establishing the role of the arts in working with offenders is to break down some of the more common misconceptions and present the arts as a positive means by which to rebuild the lives of offenders and reduce recidivism in the future.
The arts can act as a powerful medium to instigate change. Many years ago I set up a now thriving community arts organisation in east London. Part of our work involved young offenders in the local area ? using drama and visual arts to address the issues that affected them. This experience of working with offenders vividly illustrated to me how the arts can be used to enable people to question the very attitudes they have grown up with ? which can then lead to a positive shift in someone?s outlook. Since that time, through my later experience as a Probation Officer, I have witnessed many people leave prison, develop careers and literally change their lives after experiencing that change for themselves.
Arts affecting change
The Unit for the Arts and Offenders was established in 1992 following a report on arts in prisons and special hospitals. The main ethos of the Unit is to research the effectiveness of the arts when working with offenders and to promote, support and develop arts projects for the criminal justice system. Research to date has shown the significant benefits of using the arts with offenders and the establishments within which they are held. The benefits can be personally therapeutic; individuals are given the space and tools to explore their own issues. The arts can serve an educational need or may simply add to a social or recreational situation. The arts are also an effective medium when used within the community in diversionary schemes ? such as graffiti projects ? or as part of community punishment orders. The current agenda for social inclusion also places the use of the arts in a strong position to affect change within local authorities. This could become a more creative way of approaching the introduction of anti-social behaviour orders.
However, levels of awareness and understanding of the arts being used towards rehabilitation are low, not just within the criminal-justice system but also amongst the wider public. Government agendas have created a one-stop shop for offenders in the community. The main thrust of work in the field is now based on key performance indicators. While I am fully in favour of measuring work and assessing its effectiveness, I am against the bureaucratic barriers that have to be employed to do this, which make real work less valid. Is it any wonder that the criminal-justice system is recycling from the same pool of people? The concept of evaluation in the late 1980s was alien to many arts practitioners. However, the research base for criminal-justice interventions has always been extensive (albeit mainly coming from North America). It is essential to measure the effectiveness of the work we do. The Unit has employed this ethos and works on the basis of evidence of proof. This can only be a positive and pragmatic step forward for the arts organisations it supports.
There are many creative initiatives that can be employed when endeavouring to change or at least shift the attitudes of people within the criminal-justice system. However, the current overload of work and lack of resources in the probation service creates a maelstrom of apathy and stress for practitioners. It prevents any real change in recidivism rates.
This is a crucial time for this area. Whilst many in the Probation service are still reeling from the concept of NOMs (National Offender Management service), organisations in the voluntary and not-for-profit sector are looking forward to marketing their work more readily to key government agencies. It is my hope that this move will bring the arts into the centre stage.
Flexibility
Existing programmes of offender management are often rigid and overly directive, offering no space for people to think outside the box. The arts offer a more flexible and personal vehicle to allow offenders to address their behaviour, express their fears and make changes. As parents we quickly become aware of setting boundaries that are too rigid, for fear of a backlash against them by our children. So why are we surprised at the rapid failure and breach rates of offenders participating in accredited schemes?
We have an opportunity now to capitalise on the value of artforms that enable people to explore alternative views and options in life and fully allow for expression. The future of the arts within criminal justice is strengthened by its transferability and responsivity to offenders? needs. The time has definitely come for the criminal justice system ? and the Probation Service in particular ? to do some creative thinking and recognise the benefits of the services on offer from arts organisations, which allow some latitude of thought and the ability to learn through expression.
Sue Ashmore is the Chief Executive Officer of The Unit for the Arts and Offenders.
t: 01227 471006;
e: susan@a4offenders.org.uk