Evaluations
Supporting employability and personal effectiveness through the arts: international evaluation of this European Project by Jo Cursley
Supporting employability and personal effectiveness (SEPE) is the name of a qualification which was first conceived by the University of Exeter, developed and accredited by Edexcel and piloted through Superact by funding from Leonardo Lifelong Learning Project and the Medicor Foundation in five European countries. The arts were used as ... read on →
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 →
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 →
Arts Mentoring for Released Prisoners: An Evaluation Project - interim report
An interim report on the evaluation of the Koestler Trust's mentoring scheme. The evaluation concerns both the implementation and effectiveness of the mentoring scheme, and employs both qualitative and quantitative methods, including direct observation of mentoring sessions and hour-long, face-to-face interviews with both mentors and mentees. The implementation part of ... read on →
An Evaluation of Geese Theatre’s Inside Talk Programme
This study examined the impact of Inside Talk, a theatre-based programme designed to improve listening and speaking skills of offenders. The study used psychometric testing and post-programme interviews to assess the effectiveness of the programme. Interviews revealed the positive impact the programme had on participants. This provides evidence supporting the ... read on →
Evaluation of Geese Theatre's Reconnect Programme 2008
This study examines the impact of Geese Theatre’s Reconnect programme on the men who attended it. Evaluation objectives: 1. to determine whether improvements would be observed on psychometric tests measuring self-efficacy, motivation to change, and confidence in a range of skills. 2. to determine whether behaviour and engagement within the ... read on →
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:
Beats & Bars - Music in Prisons: An Evaluation
The report evaluated a series of five-day music projects which took place in eight men’s prisons across England from October 2007 to July 2008. The evaluation was aimed at understanding the impact of the project on its participants’ engagement with purposeful activities whilst in prison. In particular the impact of ... read on →
A Combined Drama-Based and CBT Approach to Working with Self-reported Anger Aggression
An active drama-based approach combined with cognitive-behavioural techniques was used to explore issues such as masculinity, power and control, pride and shame and victim awareness. Reductions in anger were hypothesised - a single group pre/post design assessed the levels of anger before and after the course. read on →