Think of the prison community and artistic expression may not be the first thing that springs to mind. And yet, art is playing an increasingly important role in both positively influencing behaviour and wellbeing within prisons, and improving outcomes once prisoners are released. At Serco, we live and breathe this therapeutic approach, and we’re seeing it make a significant impact.
Prisons can be isolated and challenging places where opportunities for prisoners to explore and express who they are, and how they feel, can be limited. Self-expression, however, through involvement in the arts has been proven to deliver a multitude of benefits – a fact that has been explored in a number of research papers, including the recent Inspiring Futures report from the University of Cambridge. This highlights the way that the arts can not only boost creative skills development, wellbeing, self-confidence, and personal development but, in doing so, reduce reoffending rates and support effective rehabilitation.
Reports and evidence aside, my background is in education, and I’ve seen first-hand how people’s lives and futures can be transformed through a passion for a subject and how they can be inspired by the enthusiasm of those teaching them. If this approach can work in a traditional educational setting, then why not in a prison setting, too?
And it’s this broad principle of engaging, inspiring and encouraging that has really guided the way we deliver our art curriculum at Serco. I’m proud to say that what we have now is a blueprint that can be replicated elsewhere, with the potential to positively impact both the lives of the prisoners themselves and also the lives of the staff and communities around them.
So what is our approach, and why has it been successful?
Critically, it’s a tailored approach and one that has been adapted to suit the facility in which it is delivered. Each prison will have its own complexities, and these will dictate the nature and outcome of any programme.
HMP Dovegate is a Category B adult male prison with a range of prisoner classifications – from high security and those serving long-term sentences through to those with shorter sentences or awaiting trial. Our curriculum needs to cater for varying levels of literacy and for those as young as 18 to those over 90. What we’ve built is a single programme that is capable of meeting the needs of all learners and delivering the required outcomes. Art, as we define it, covers a range of artistic forms – from painting and sculpture to poetry and music. Having the opportunity to express feelings and thoughts is key through whichever medium is most suited.
Our approach to encouraging participation focuses on increasing the visibility of what our learners produce. If there’s a blank wall at Dovegate, we’ll fill it with art, and we know that success is breeding success. We’ve seen art attendance rates jump from just under half last year to over 80% in the latter part of this year. Art has proven itself to engage people who would otherwise have been disengaged, and with a receptive audience, we’re then able to do great things.
One of the major successes of the programme we deliver is in establishing a connection and a relationship with our local community; it inspires our learners’ art, and in turn, the work they produce provides a community benefit. For example, art learners at Dovegate helped the local church restore statues and other building features. Not only did this provide our prisoners with a sense of purpose, it also enabled community stakeholders to feel more connected to our facility and understand the opportunity for it to deliver for the wider good. This is real social value in practice – and a demonstration of how meaningful and effective it can be as part of our wider justice and immigration offering. Ultimately, and where sentencing allows, we want prisoners to be able to reintegrate into the community and contribute to it in a meaningful way. Art bridges the gap between inside and outside, breaking down barriers and changing preconceptions.
At the time of writing this, I’m feeling particularly proud of the work that we’ve achieved in partnership with our learners. I recently attended the Koestler Arts Annual Exhibition in London’s Southbank Centre, for which over 350 art entries were submitted from across a number of Serco prisons, with HMP Dovegate gaining a Platinum Award as a winning establishment. Serco proudly supports the Koestler Arts’ awards programme, which helps provide both a framework for the delivery of our curriculum and a key motivation for learners who aspire to have their work exhibited.
For many of the prisoners who engage with our programme, the opportunity to learn, reflect and rehabilitate is motivation enough.
Feedback from one of our artists testified to the sense of pride and achievement they got from the fact that their art – which was exhibited publicly – could provide a benefit to others and that it had fostered a sense of purpose. This feeling of purpose is central to the rehabilitation process. In fact, many participants spend time outside of course hours working on their art, in their own quarters, again illustrating art’s ability to provide wider meaning outside of a fixed educational structure.
Serco manages five UK prisons, which make up a small part of the UK’s overall prison capacity, but as ever when it comes to education and rehabilitation, success in one area can provide a blueprint elsewhere. Due to the complexities of an individual prisoner’s journey – with many transferring from our facilities to others – tracing longer-term impact is challenging. But we only need to see the growing engagement in the subject within our prisons, and hear the many stories of those who continue their new-found passion for the arts once released to understand that our approach is working.
Learn more about Serco and Koestler Arts by visiting The Koestler Awards for arts in criminal justice