Exploring Good Vibrations projects with vulnerable and challenging women in prison

Data type Qualitative

Evaluation Focus Anger management, Impact of arts-based approaches, Life Skills, Personal development, Well Being

Key indicators Social and Life Skills, Well Being

Methodologies Focus Groups, Interviews

This research involved 26 women who had successfully completed a Good Vibrations project, finding that:

for women in prison, taking part in a Good Vibrations project can reduce anger, worry, and levels of unhappiness, and improve social skills
reductions in anger, worry, and unhappiness may be sustained in the weeks after the project, but not in the long-term
the involvement of prison staff, and the performance in front of an audience, appear to be important factors in any lasting impact
completing the project positively changed the way some of the most ‘difficult’ women were viewed by prison staff

"I’ve got children and the project took my mind off worrying about them as I was concentrating and enjoying it."

Music

Prison

Laura Caulfield

Conducted: August 2012 – December 2015
Published: December 2015
Type: Academic Institution report