Evaluations
An evaluation of The Irene Taylor Trust’s Sounding Out programme 2016-2018
Sounding Out is a music traineeship which provides former prisoners with longer-term opportunities upon their release, to bridge the gap between inside and outside prison. The evaluation takes a qualitative approach to explore the views and experiences of participants, staff and family members to understand if and how Sounding Out ... read on →
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:
Re-imagining futures: Exploring arts interventions and the process of desistance
Carried out by Northumbria University and Bath Spa University, this report highlights examples of how the arts can support positive changes linked to personal agency, efficacy and identity, which are linked to the highly individualised journey of desistance from criminal behaviour. Key findings show that participation in arts activities enables ... read on →
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 →
An Evaluation of a Pilot Study of a Literature-Based Intervention with Women in Prison
This study investigated whether ‘Get Into Reading’, a literature-based intervention, which had been established in other custodial contexts and non-custodial mental health settings in the UK transposed to a female prison; HMP Low Newton, and whether any of the benefits identified in custodial and non-custodial contexts elsewhere were reported by ... read on →
An evaluation of the Artist in Residence at HMP Grendon
Through observation and interviews with inmates and staff,this report documents the process of developing an artistic residency in a Therapeutic Community prison and provides an evaluation of the impact on those taking part. Based on observations across four prison wings and interviews with sixteen inmates, this report is able to conclude that ... read on →
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 →
The Great Escape: exploring the rehabilitative dynamics involved in 'Changing Tunes'
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 ... 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:
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 →
Evaluation of Dancing Inside: a creative workshop by Motionhouse Dance Theatre_yr 2 programme
This present study examines year two of the Dancing Inside project:Motionhouse Dance Theatre workshops conducted with prisoners in HMP Dovegate’s Therapeutic Community. Its aim was to provide evidence for the short term impacts of participating in the workshops and also to examine the longer term gains made by dance participants. ... read on →