Implementing A Gender Based Arts Program For Juvenile Offenders PDF Download

Increasing numbers of youth throughout the United States are experiencing both incarceration and related gaps in their schooling. Art Education can serve as a critical tool in helping to build a foundation of learning within juvenile detention centers (JDC). In this study, I use action research to answer the following questions: What occurs when Chicago arts-based educational programs are implemented into JDCs? In what way can the arts be meaningful in the lives of youth who are incarcerated? I began my thesis project by volunteering with a Chicago based art program that worked within a juvenile temporary detention center, and more specifically a program that worked with incarcerated girls. During a two-month period I facilitated gender-specific art programming and observed the ways in which the program functioned within a JDC. Being a part of an all women group greatly affected the way in which I thought about my research process. I explored feminist methodologies, and approached my thesis with a feminist research lens. For example, I conducted open-ended interviews with women who work with gender-specific art programming in JDCs; these interviews allowed for an open exchange of ideas without a hierarchical structure. The findings from my data collection helped to compartmentalizing the literature I explored throughout my thesis and the curriculum I am interested in developing. Working at a temporary detention center posed many challenges to my volunteer work and research; time spent with the girls was limited, the average stay of a youth in the temporary detention center was five to seven days, which made it difficult to establish relationships with the girls. Despite the challenges I began to see the art workshops as important within the juvenile detention center. Through the workshops we were able to create a space where girls could come to relax, make art, and be around women who listened to them. We did our best to create a safe and open place where girls were able to talk and share with one another freely. The art activity for the workshops often centered on crafts, and we engaged projects that surrounded themes of self, friendship, and family. These workshops were valuable because while prison restricts the opportunities for youth to express emotions, in art-making sessions girls were encouraged to share emotions, which they said they valued.