Evaluations

BROAD: (Building Resilience and Overcoming Adversity through Dance & Drama) Research and Evaluation Report

Building Resilience and Overcoming Adversity through Dance & Drama (BROAD) is an innovative dance theatre pilot programme designed for vulnerable groups in prisons, secure children's centres and secure hospitals, co-created by Odd Arts company and Company Chameleon. Its innovation derives from the combination of theatre and dance, underpinned by training ... read on →

Authors Lynn Froggett, Hugh Ortega Breton (University of Central Lancashire)

Published July 2020

Artforms Dance, Drama

Organisations Company Chameleon, Odd Arts

Research report: HMP/YOI Winchester Applied Theatre pilot 2018

This report was produced by researchers at University of Winchester (Applied Criminology). It details the findings of an evaluation of a pilot project which was designed and delivered by BearFace Theatre CIC and funded by Hampshire Cultural Trust which was aimed at using a new Applied Theatre intervention to impact ... read on →

Authors Adrian Barton, Alexandra Russell (University of Winchester)

Published September 2018

Artform Theatre

Organisations BearFace Theatre CIC, Hampshire Cultural Trust, HMP/YPI Winchester, University of Winchester   Project venue HMP/YPI Winchester

Participant type Male 21-24 Offenders

Sample size: 10

Applied Performance Arts Interventions within Justice Services: Moving 'Forward' Toward an Integrated Sustainable Evaluative Approach

This report evaluates the impact of a resettlement programme using forum theatre and therapeutic creative delivery in prisons, adult resettlement centres and secure units.  It focuses on the impact good partnership has on effective projects as well as the need for long-term sustained work in prisons to ensure the highest ... read on →

Authors Richard McHugh, Hannah Smithson (Manchester Metropolitan University)

Published January 2018

Artform Theatre

Organisation Odd Arts   Project venues Barton Moss Secure Unit, HMP Manchester, Langley House Trust resettlement centres

Participant type Male Ex offenders

Sample size: 50

Creative Leadership and Forum Theatre: An evaluation report for Odd Arts

The report evaluates one of Odd Art’s creative programme that uses applied and forum theatre to increase leadership and skills. The following key outcomes of the Odd Arts Creative Leadership programme all demonstrate factors related to confidence, self-awareness and self-presentation, and, therefore, skills and capacities required to show creative leadership ... read on →

Authors Lynn Froggett, Laura Kelly, Julian Manley (University of Central Lancashire)

Published January 2018

Artform Theatre

Organisation Odd Arts   Project venues Care 4 Children, HMP Wymott, Langley House Trust

Participant type Male Juvenile Offenders

Sample size: 89

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

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

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

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

Developments in the HM Prison Service and Safe Ground Family Man programme, and the Safe Ground Network during 2007-8: An independent review

The purpose of this evaulation was to examine the developments Safe Ground had made to one of its prison interventions, Family Man, and to the Safe Ground network during the period 2007-08 following recommendations made in previous reviews. It utilised semi structured qualitative face to face interviews, telephone interviews and questionnaires ... read on →

Authors Gwyneth Boswell, Fiona Poland

Published October 2008

Artform Drama

Organisation Safe Ground   Project venues Belmarsh, Wandsworth

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

Sample size: 258

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