부산대학교 도서관

This article describes an arts and narrative intervention program using visual art, storytelling, music, journaling, and support groups with incarcerated abused women to address the following questions: How can visual art and music empower incarcerated female survivors of domestic violence? Can art, music, storytelling, journaling, and support groups with incarcerated women alter their self images? During an 8-week pilot program at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women (ICIW) the authors, an Assistant Professor of Nursing, and an Assistant Professor of Art Education, gathered qualitative data. The findings were shared with undergraduates and graduates in both the Nursing and Art Education programs. The implications of this research are for art education preservice teachers and educators who work in settings outside the public school system can be drawn from the outcomes of this type of intervention. The ideas presented within this article could easily be transferred to any population, especially people in mental health settings, hospitals, shelters, community centers, and support groups. For preservice educators in particular, this research provides a look into the prison system, a place where art education can produce incredible results, but where committed teachers are hard to find. A model for narrative arts-based intervention is also offered. While the focus of this example addresses women, the model can be adapted and used with males as well as females. Issues such as domestic violence must be addressed with careful attention to the mental health needs of participants. The arts can provide ways to reflect, empower, critique, and even transform. (Contains 2 figures and 2 notes.)