Good Vibrations is proud to be a best-practice case study in The National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance’s new guide for those with responsibility for supporting the education, health, wellbeing and reintegration into society of individuals within the Criminal Justice System: https://www.artsincriminaljustice.org.uk/arts-culture-and-innovation-in-criminal-justice-settings-a-guide-for-commissioners/.

‘Arts, culture and innovation in criminal justice settings: a guide for commissioners’ provides practical information and ideas for those wishing to commission artists and arts organisations. It includes details of how to identify providers as well as case studies demonstrating how arts activities can be used to meet the needs of offenders.

A 2016 article about Good Vibrations’ impact in the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation says: “Perhaps most interesting is the finding that the initial positive changes observed in some individuals seem to prompt continued positive change. Indeed, those men whom we were able to make contact with in the community after their release from prison—most of whom had completed the Good Vibrations project at least 12 months beforehand were still reporting positive attitudinal changes that they suggested were prompted by their initial participation in the project … The results from this research highlight how projects such as Good Vibrations may act as a catalyst for future behavioral change for some individuals.”

Please visit this link for more findings http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2016.1194943. Or email l.caulfield@bathspa.ac.uk to request a copy of the peer-reviewed research.

On 9th February we supported 15 teachers at a Barnet primary school to develop their creativity, leadership, communication, problem-solving and team-working skills through a Good Vibrations at Work Team-Building Day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYFjnZ8yHnY

The feedback we got from participants about the day was:

• ‘Stress release; bond with colleagues.’
• ‘Made me think about team work and communication.’
• ‘Great to spend time as a team in a fun way.’
• ‘Enjoyed making music with other staff. Great to sit down and lose myself in the sound.’
• ‘Collaborative, creative, inclusive and non-threatening.’
• ‘Totally different from anything else we do together.’

Their thoughts on Malcolm, our facilitator:

• ‘Brilliant. Very clear and guiding in a safe and fun environment.’
• ‘Enjoyed his passion and enthusiasm.’
• ‘Excellent – really lovely teaching style.’
• ‘A highly motivating person.’

They said it had given them ideas to apply in their work to do with ‘listening and directing’, using ‘different mediums to communicate’ and ‘allowing a group to find its natural creativity without interfering too soon.’

Do get in touch with us f you’d like to find out more about having one of our Good Vibrations at Work days in your workplace.

Gerard Lemos, a highly respected author, prison policy expert and Co-Director of social policy thinktank Lemos & Crane, has a new book out, The Good Prison.

In it he argues that conscience, formed by family relationships and reinforced through community life, is vital to enable “offenders” to move on to more constructive lives and that prison’s crucial role is to help prisoners change how they see themselves: simply training for employment will never be enough.

The book includes a study of Good Vibrations.  Gerard sees our work as an “implausible activity” yet “a powerful therapeutic intervention”. He describes his visit to see Good Vibrations in action at HMP Dartmoor, including talking to some of the participants :

“They mentioned the sense of achievement, benefits to their self esteem, how they felt less stressed when they returned to the cell.  But, above all, they returned time and again to the benefits or listening and working together.  These are two qualities not readily associated with prison life, but essential qualities for life on the outside, in particular in the modern workplace”.

He concludes that unlike so much in prison life:

“a gamelan workshop contains no stigma, no label, just the suggestion of creativity, originality…. and that is isn very short supply among the routines and mundanities of prison life.  The positioning of the gamelan workshop also focuses on capabilities, rather than deficiencies.”

There’s an article about Good Vibrations in the latest edition of Music Education Research.  It pulls together findings from longitudinal studies of Good Vibrations participants over the last few years, showing that participating in Good Vibrations inspires positive change in individuals.  Using an “Activity Theory” model, the article also looks at why Good Vibrations inspires this positive change.  Activity Theory is a framework for looking at personal learning and development in a social environment.   Click here to access the article.

October 2010: There’s an article by Laura Caulfield and Professor David Wilson from Birmingham City University in the current Journal of Social Criminology about the impact of Good VIbrations on women prisoners.  Having interviewed women prisoners and prison staff shortly after a Good Vibrations project, they conclude that:

“The project clearly had an impact on these women, providing short-term improvements in coping ability and emotional issues – issues that are particularly significant for women in prison, and statistically associated with risk of reoffending for women. Furthermore, the findings suggest the project may have a positive impact upon women’s levels of self-harming behaviour”  

Although this research was only short-term, the researchers’ view is that:

“Against a background of emerging evidence of the positive impact of arts based project with men in prison, the findings presented here suggest that this project has the potential to have a long-lasting positive effect on women offenders’ attitudes and behaviour and improve coping skills”