Derrington 2012 thesis.pdf - Anglia Ruskin Research Online

In the UK, a randomised, controlled trial of group dance movement psychotherapy
(Karkou, Fullarton and Scarth, 2010) took place in secondary schools where
therapists worked with adolescents at risk of developing mental health problems. The
project aimed to improve the emotional and social well-being of young people aged
11-13, and encourage awareness and understanding of arts therapies amongst staff by
running an educational programme. The quantitative results were positive but the
study was too small for any firm conclusions to be drawn. However, it did show that
teachers needed to be sufficiently informed about arts therapies and mental health
issues for any such work to be effective.
The same conclusion had been drawn by Ierardi, Bottos and O’Brien in America
(2007). A creative arts research programme for vulnerable youth in Philadelphia,
called Safe Expressions, was designed ‘to measure improvements in self-esteem,
interpersonal skills, anger management, impulse control and development of new
coping strategies’ (p.254). The researchers found that, without administrative support,
findings were negative and unreliable. They also concluded that the use of pre- and
post- self-surveys by the teenage participants ‘did not prove to be a statistically
reliable measurement of self-recorded progress’ (ibid. p.259). The lack of honest
answers was linked to a lack of reading comprehension and the questionnaires being
too lengthy. The study revealed several factors that contributed to unreliable answers
but its early findings indicated positive change in the participants’ skills assessments
and it continues to be carried out in other schools to create a larger database.
Based on her clinical work, Christensen (2010) describes the role of drama therapy in
a UK student support unit and her research study which sought to find out the
experiences of adolescent boys and the effects of short-term drama therapy. Using a
qualitative approach, including the review of case notes, thematic analysis of
recorded interviews and case studies, Christensen discovered that drama therapy
could help students to be re-integrated into mainstream school but it was difficult to
separate the effects of the support offered by the unit from the drama therapy. Her
study concludes that there is an absence of research studies in this clinical area and
echoes that of Karkou (2010) who calls for more evidence-based research.
Finally, the impact of dance movement therapy was investigated by Koshland
(Koshland and Whittaker, 2004; Koshland, 2010). The quantitative study of a
! $(!