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 →

Authors Laura Caulfield, Andrew Jolly, Rachel Massie (Institute for Community Research & Development, University of Wolverhampton)

Published March 2019

Artform Music

Organisation The Irene Taylor Trust (Music in Prisons)

Participant type Male Adult Ex offenders

Sample size: 10

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

  • 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 →

    Authors Charlotte Bilby, Laura Caulfield, Louise Ridley

    Published November 2013

    Artforms Craft, Creative Writing, Music, Visual Arts

    Organisation Arts Alliance

    Participant type Male and Female Adult Offenders

    Sample size: 30

    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 →

    Author Jo Cursley (University of Exeter)

    Published 2012

    Artforms Dance, Drama, Music, Visual Arts

    Participant type Male and Female Adult Offenders

    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 →

    Authors Josie Billington, Jude Robinson (University of Liverpool)

    Published 2012

    Artform Creative Writing

    Organisations National Personality Disorder Team, The Reader Organisation, University of Liverpool   Project venue HMP Low Newton

    Participant type Female Adult Offenders

    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 →

    Author Laura Caulfield (Birmingham City University)

    Published October 2011

    Artform Visual Arts

    Project venue Grendon

    Participant type Male Adult Offenders

    Sample size: 16

    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

    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 →

    Author Shadd Maruna (Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Belfast)

    Published 2010

    Artform Music

    Organisation Changing Tunes   Project venues Bristol, Bronzefield, Eastwood Park, Erlestoke, Exeter, Gloucester, Guys Marsh, Kingston, Leyhill, Parkhurst, Shepton Mallet, Winchester

    Participant type Male and Female Adult Offenders

    Sample size: 87

    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

  • 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

    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 →

    Author Jennifer Brown (Forensic and Clinical Psychology Research Group, University of Surrey, University of Surrey)

    Published November 2004

    Artform Dance

    Organisation Motionhouse Dance   Project venue Dovegate

    Participant type Adult Offenders

    Sample size: 13

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