Organisations and institutions

Good Vibrations

Good Vibrations is a registered charity that helps prisoners, patients in secure hospitals, ex-prisoners and others in the community to develop crucial life and work skills through participating in intensive Gamelan (Indonesian bronze percussion) courses. Since 2003 Good Vibrations has worked with more than 3000 participants in 40 different secure institutions.

Category: Arts Organisation

http://www.good-vibrations.org.uk/

Evaluations as member organisation (9)

Exploring Good Vibrations projects with vulnerable and challenging women in prison

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 ... read on →

    Author Laura Caulfield (Bath Spa University)

    Published December 2015

    Artform Music

    Organisation Good Vibrations

    Participant type Female Adult Offenders

    • Evaluation of the use of 'Good Vibrations' percussion courses to improve motivation to change and treatment readiness with convicted sexual offenders embarking on treatment programmes

    Previous research has highlighted the benefits of implementing music-centred interventions in correctional settings. The present study used a mixed method approach to explore prisoners’ experiences of a week-long Indonesian percussion music course, introduced in a UK sex offender prison to enhance motivation and readiness for change pre-treatment. Study one examined ... read on →

    Authors Nicholas Blagden, Helen Elliott, Jessica Faulkner, Rebecca Lievesley, Verena Sperling, Belinda Winder (Nottingham Trent University)

    Published December 2015

    Artform Music

    Organisation Good Vibrations   Project venue Whatton

    Participant type Male Adult Offenders

    Good Vibrations: health and wellbeing of older offenders

    The purpose of this research project was to explore the older offender population and there engagement with the Good Vibration project.  The research found that:

  • Older offenders also experience the same emotional benefits as the general prison population
  • Older offender’s comments on additional benefits of the Good Vibrations project for ... read on →

    Authors Laura Caulfield, Dean Wilkinson (Bath Spa University; University of Worcester)

    Published 2014

    Artform Music

    Organisation Good Vibrations

    Participant type Male Older Offenders

    • Good Vibrations: Music and social education for young offenders

    This evaluation looked at the project from the point of view of music education, identifying individual and social factors generated through musical development that also are attributed to desistence from crime. These were divided into two categories:- Individual Agency:Personal Identity Diversity Motivation Hope Self-determination Personal strengths  Social Interactions: Professional relationships ... read on →

    Author Jennie Henley (Institute of Education, University of London, University of London)

    Published August 2012

    Artform Music

    Organisation Good Vibrations   Project venue Swinfen Hall

    Participant type Male Young Offenders

    Sample size: 19

    Musical Learning and Desistance from Crime: The case of a 'Good Vibrations' Javanese Gamelan project with young offenders

    This paper discusses new empirical evidence for a positive relationship between musical learning and desistance from crime. On investigating the learning processes occurring within a Javanese gamelan project in a Young Offenders Institution, parallels between musical learning processes and the development of certain attributes linked to desistance from crime emerged.  ... read on →

    Author Jennie Henley (Institute of Education, University of London, University of London)

    Published February 2012

    Artform Music

    Organisation Good Vibrations

    Participant type Male Young Offenders

    Continuing Positive Change in Prison and Community

    An analysis of the long-term and wider impact of the Good Vibrations Project. This report, commissioned from Birmingham City University’s Centre for Applied Criminology, looked at the impact of taking part in Good Vibrations on participants 12-18 months on, assessing the long-term institutional impact of participating and measuring whether any ... read on →

    Authors David Wilson, Laura Caulfield, Dean Wilkinson (Birmingham City University)

    Published

    Artform Music

    Organisation Good Vibrations   Project venues Eastwood Park, Grendon

    Participant type Male and Female Adult Offenders

    Sample size: 25

    Promoting Positive Change

    This report looked at the longer-term benefits of taking part in Good Vibrations.  The researchers found that participants in Good Vibrations courses maintained the positive benefits six to nine months on, and in particular that participants experienced:

  • Greater levels of engagement and an increased openness to wider learning
  • Improved listening ... read on →

    Authors David Wilson, Susie Atherton, Laura Caulfield (Birmingham City University)

    Published 2008

    Organisation Good Vibrations   Project venues Dovegate, Grendon, Peterborough

    Participant type Male Adult Offenders

    • All Together Now

    This study assessed the therapeutic benefits and value of taking part in Good Vibrations muisc projects - the study was written up in the Prison Service Journal in March 2007. read on →

    Author Alison Liebling (Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge , University of Cambridge)

    Published 2007

    Artform Music

    Organisation Good Vibrations

    Participant type Female Adult Offenders

    Breaking Down Walls - The Good Vibrations Project in Prison

    This study looked at the educational benefits of taking part in Good Vibrations, setting its work in the context of prison education in the UK. It also assessed the value-for-money of Good Vibrations courses.The evaluation was specifically commissioned to build upon two earlier evaluations undertaken by Good Vibrations themselves (see ... read on →

    Authors David Wilson, Matt Logan (Birmingham City University)

    Published 2006

    Artform Music

    Organisation Good Vibrations   Project venues Brixton , Peterborough

    Participant type Male and Female Adult Offenders

    Sample size: 42

    Publications

    David Wilson, Laura Caulfield, Jennie Henley and Dean Wilkinson, ‘Good Vibrations: positive change through social music-making’, in: Music Education Research (August 2012) Links: Publishers website

    Maria Mendonca, ‘Prison, music and the ‘rehabilitation revolution’: The case of Good Vibrations’, in: Journal of Applied Arts and Health (2010), Volume 1, Issue 3, pp.295–307 Links: Publishers website

    Leon Digard, Anna Grafin von Sponek and Alison Liebling, ‘All Together Now: the therapeutic potential of a prison-based music programme ’, in: Prison Service Journal (March 2007), Issue 170 Links: Good Vibrations website

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