“Music is everything”: Using collaborative group songwriting as an arts-based method with children experiencing homelessness and family violence

ABSTRACT

Children experiencing homelessness and family violence sometimes have reduced opportunities to access appropriate educational, social and recreational supports. However, music often remains as a personal resource in children’s everyday lives. This article explores the use of songwriting as a participatory arts-based research method to give voice to young people’s understandings of how they use music in the context of homelessness and family violence. Fifteen children 8–14 years participated in music-based focus groups that involved writing a song about what music meant to them. The collaborative songwriting research method was designed to engage children in creative and child-centered ways throughout all stages of the data generation and analysis process. This incorporated brainstorming to generate data and then the songwriting process was used as a way of analyzing the data. Two songs will be provided as an arts-based representation of children’s experiences and understanding of music as a resource. Throughout the process of writing the songs, the children described how music provided an escape from what was happening in their lives and offered hope for a better future. Implications for working with children in this context will be discussed along with critical considerations for using collaborative songwriting as a research method.

KEYWORDS:

• Child welfare
• songwriting
• music therapy
• resources
• collaboration
• arts-based research

Conflict of interests

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Australian Government Research Training Scholarship.

Notes on contributors

Rebecca Fairchild

Dr Rebecca Fairchild recently completed her doctoral research at the University of Melbourne. Her research involved using songwriting as a collaborative method to explore children’s resources in the context of family violence and homelessness. She is currently working therapeutically with children and families who have experienced family violence and/or sexual assault. Her research and practice is informed by collaborative, resource-oriented and family-centered approaches.

Katrina Skewes McFerran

Dr Katrina Skewes McFerran is Professor of Music Therapy at the University of Melbourne, and co-director of the Creative Arts and Music Therapy Research Units in Australia. Her research is focused on how young people use music in their lives, and she has been particularly interested in the perspectives of those who have experienced marginalization and live with challenging conditions. Her latest book, “The Oxford Handbook of Adolescents, Music and Wellbeing” (co-edited with Phillipa Derrington and Suvi Saarikallio), is currently in press, and her first book, “Adolescents, Music and Music Therapy” (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2010), continues to serve as a resource for music therapists working with youth.