Derrington 2012 thesis.pdf - Anglia Ruskin Research Online

with authority figures, even ganging up on the therapist, creatively and expressively,
but in a safely contained way. Similarly, Dorr (2007) examines how art therapy
groups provide meaningful and effective ways to help excluded students manage
unresolved feelings of conflict, anger and low self-esteem. The combination of the
collaborative group process and the creative art-making process helps students to
address such issues with others who are in a similar position.
Creating artwork specifically for public display can satisfy the desire of the
adolescent to be heard. Graffiti produced by a group of traumatised Israeli students
was the focus of a study by Klingman, Shaley and Pearlman (2000). They describe
the importance of graffiti and ‘graffiti writing as construction of a unique youth
ritualistic medium’ (p.300) and go on to observe the different creative stages of the
artwork, which clearly depict how imaginatively the students used the medium to
cope with their trauma. Similarly, Summer (2007) describes a mural-making process
in art therapy with a group of students in New York who, traumatised by a shooting
of one of their friends, needed to work through feelings of loss and grief. The mural
became a lasting depiction of their feelings.
The development and growth of art therapy in young offender institutions and group
work with adolescents who have committed crime is the focus of several authors
(Baillie, 1994; Hagood, 1994; Liebmann, 1994). Smeijsters et al. (2011) are currently
developing, evaluating and aiming to improve all arts therapy interventions for young
offenders in secure care. Their preceding article (2001) looked at youth’s core
problems with self-image and inability to express themselves and the implications of
art as well as drama, music and dance-movement therapy.
Raghuramann (2000) presents an individual case example of art therapy and uses it to
illustrate how this medium can help chronically ill adolescents who, in addition to the
expected pressures of their age, have an overwhelming amount to deal with
emotionally. Being creative in a therapeutic environment can provide an outlet for the
individual’s feelings, however Raghuraman points out that the success of therapy
depends on the therapist’s open-mindedness and tact for honest communication to
occur. ‘The most important element of the therapeutic process is that it represents a
two-way street. Both the therapist and patient need to work together to promote
healing and growth’ (p. 39).
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