A Qualitative Study of the Rehabilitative Potential of Music in Prisons and Immigration Removal Centers

ABSTRACT

Music-based programmes have been found to improve well-being and rehabilitation for people in prison and other places of detention, but there is a limited understanding of the mechanisms driving this. This paper seeks to explore how music has the potential to contribute to desistance from crime, specifically in the context of identity transformation. Respondents were ex-detainees in England who had taken part in music-based programmes either in a prison, an Immigration Removal Center, or in the community. Facilitators of music projects also took part in the study. The data comprised of ethnographic observations of three different music sessions, supplemented by two semi-structured interviews. A thematic analysis revealed a core concept that music production and consumption were used to construct identity in reaction to the deconstructive effects of incarceration, leading to reported improvements in self-esteem and self-efficacy. Findings are discussed in relation to policy and practice recommendations.

KEYWORDS:

• Community music therapy
• identity
• technology of the self
• therapeutic alliance
• desistance
• rehabilitation
• creativity in counseling

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the charities that supported the research project.