Evaluations

The Lullaby Project: areas of change and mechanisms of impact

Creative projects and their potential towards positive psychosocial change have been consistently evidenced, particularly with vulnerable groups. The Lullaby Project (developed by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute in New York) has now been implemented in UK through two pilot experiences where the Irene Taylor Trust (who led the initiative), brought ... read on →

Author Sara Ascenso

Published November 2017

Artform Music

Organisations Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Irene Taylor Trust   Project venues HMP Wandsworth, Praxis Community Projects

Participant type Female Adult Migrants, Adult Musicians, Male Adult Offenders

Sample size: 21

Art on the Inside: How Do Prison Art Teachers Maintain Their Professional Practice as Artist?

This evaluation asks the question: how do prison art teachers actively seek out opportunity for development and advancement in their specialist field? It empowers the voice of eight prison art teachers as artists working within a broad context of custodial settings including young offender’s institutes, adult male prisons and a ... read on →

Author Sophie Nickeas

Published August 2016

Artform Visual Arts

Organisation University of West London   Project venues HMP Highdown, HMP Lewes, HMP/YOI Bronzefield, HMYOI Cookham Wood, HMYOI Wetherby

Participant type Male and Female Adult Art teachers working in prisons/YOIs

Sample size: 8

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

    A Narrative-Based Evaluation of 'Changing Tunes' Music-Based Prisoner Reintegration Interventions

    The report explains the results of exploratory research into the work of the prison based charity Changing Tunes, which uses music both within and also outside prison with offenders and ex offenders. Evidence revealed that the pro social impact on the participants came as a result both of participation in ... read on →

    Authors Jo Cursley, Shadd Maruna

    Published January 2015

    Artform Music

    Organisation Changing Tunes   Project venues Eastwood Park, Leyhill, Winchester

    Participant type Male and Female Adult Ex offenders, Male and Female Adult Offenders, Male and Female Adult Staff

    The Arts of Desistance: Evaluation of the Koestler Trust Arts Mentoring Programme for Former Prisoners

    This report presents and discusses the findings of an evaluation of an arts-based mentoring scheme that is aimed at prolonging and enhancing desistance from crime through providing former prisoners with opportunities to continue engaging with the arts after release. The evaluation focused both on the implementation and effectiveness of the ... read on →

    Author Leonidas Cheliotis (London School of Economics)

    Published October 2014

    Artforms Creative Writing, Multi-Arts, Music, Visual Arts

    Organisation Koestler Trust   Project venues Parc, Peterborough

    Participant type Male and Female Adult Ex offenders

    Sample size: 60

    An Evaluation of Talent 4... Europe LLP-TOI programme: A Group Programme to Identify Talent and Skills

    This report is an evaluation of Rideout’s Talent 4… Europe programme. Talent 4… is an arts-based diagnostic programme designed to help participants identify personal strengths and skills to help increase motivation and inform better decision making about future training or employment. This evaluation analyses data from a total of 234 ... read on →

    Authors Laura Caulfield, Rebecca McGuire-Snieckus (Bath Spa University)

    Published September 2014

    Artform Multi-Arts

    Organisation Rideout

    Participant type Male and Female Adult Ex offenders, Male and Female Adult Long term unemployed, Male and Female Adult Offenders

    Write to be Heard: Supporting Offender Learning through Creative Writing

    The report explores the impact of a creative writing programme developed to engage ‘hard to reach’ learners in prison.   The mechanism was a creative writing competition, incorporating a schedule of workshops in 28 prisons, encouraging entrants to write pieces for broadcast on National Prison Radio (NPR).  Using qualitative and quantitative ... read on →

    Authors Jane Hurry, Patrice Lawrence, Jessica Plant, Anita Wilson (Arts Alliance)

    Published March 2014

    Artform Creative Writing

    Organisation Arts Alliance   Project venue Prisons around the UK

    Participant type Male and Female Adult Offenders

    The Melting Pot: Evaluation

    A three-year creative writing and mentoring project working at the DSPD Unit, HMP Frankland. The report shows how the project contributed to the overall well-being of men in the Unit and contributed to the rehabilitation programme. Section 2 includes a Replicability Model and the development of performance indicators and an ... read on →

    Author Caroline O'Keefe (Hallam Centre for Community Justice, Sheffield Hallam University; Sheffield Hallam University)

    Published December 2013

    Artform Creative Writing

    Organisation Writers in Prison Network   Project venue Frankland

    Participant type Male 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

    Family Man: 2012-13 Evaluation Scope

    The purpose of this evaluation is to demonstrate the long-term impact and cost-effectiveness of Family Man to policy makers, funders, prisons and practitioners; and to complement Gwyneth Boswell’s qualitative study of the revised Family Man and other previous evaluations. read on →

    Published 2013

    Artform Drama

    Organisation Safe Ground   Project venues Belmarsh, Birmingham, Bristol, Dovegate, Highpoint, Leeds, Parc, Wandsworth

    Participant type Male and Female Adult Families of offenders, Male and Female Juvenile Families of offenders, Male Adult Offenders, Male and Female Adult Prison Staff

    Sample size: 500

    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

    Show more
    Go to homepage

    Arts Alliance Evidence Library

    Filters: Impact of arts‑based approaches [x], Adult [x]

    Filter by:

    Participant age [ + ]
    Participant gender [ + ]
    Delivery methodologies [ + ]