Evaluation Title

The Great Escape: exploring the rehabilitative dynamics involved in 'Changing Tunes'

Type of evaluation

Data type Qualitative

Evaluation Focus Rehabilitation

Key indicators Anger management, Confidence, ETE - Education Training Employment, Identity different from being offender, Impact on Institution

Project output Arts-based workshops

Model of change Logic Model

Methodologies Focus Groups, Grounded Theory, Interviews, Observation

Research limitations Credibility of theory model

Summary of evaluation

The goal of this report is to develop a 'logic model' that can account for how Changing Tunes (CT) works as a rehabilitative strategy, outlining both the dynamic processes involved and their immediate/short-term and medium/longer-term impacts on the lives of participants.

This analysis identified seven, key elements of the CT process that can account for how the projects “work”:
A) Participant-led/Sense of Collective Ownership/Responsibility
B) Therapeutic Alliance with Facilitator
C) Group Bonding and Mutual Support
D) Challenging Participants to Test Their Limits
E) Public Performance and Acknowledgement
F) Praise
G) Fostering a Sense of Achievement.
Written feedback on CT projects was submitted by 87 participants from 12 different prisons.

Project description

Changing Tunes uses music teaching, rehearsing, recording, performance, improvisation and composition to aid the rehabilitation of prisoners and ex- prisoners. The 12 prisons involved in this project were:Bristol, Eastwood Park, Leyhill, Parkhurst, Kingston, Shepton Mallet, Bronzefield, Erlestoke, Guys Marsh, Gloucester, Exeter, and Winchester.

Key Quote

Internal evaluation research collected by the CT organisation suggests that CT participants‟ re-offending outcomes upon release are far better than the national average for released prisoners. These promising retrospective results suggest the need for an externally funded and designed, prospective outcome evaluation of the projects‟ impact on the lives of participants.


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