Music Therapy for Delinquency Involved Juveniles Through Tripartite Collaboration: A Mixed Method Study

Area of Science:

• Forensic Psychology
• Music Therapy
• Adolescent Rehabilitation

Background:

• Young offenders in the juvenile justice system often face challenges with self-concept, resilience, and stress management.
• Community collaboration models can enhance rehabilitation services for at-risk youth.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of the Young & Great Music project, a community-collaborative music therapy program for young offenders.
• To assess the impact of music therapy on self-concept, resilience, and stress coping skills in adolescents under juvenile justice supervision.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods approach was used, involving 178 adolescents (115 on suspension of indictment, 63 on supervised probation).
• A 15-session music therapy program focused on music making and songwriting.
• Quantitative data collected via self-concept, resilience, and stress coping scales; qualitative data from in-depth interviews.

Main Results:

• Significant improvements were observed in self-concept, resilience, and stress coping skills (p < 0.000).
• Significant group differences were found in self-concept (p = 0.006) and resilience (p = 0.022) between indictment suspension and supervised probation groups.
• Qualitative analysis revealed music making and songwriting facilitated new perspectives, courage, perseverance, and self-acknowledgment.

Conclusions:

• The Young & Great Music project demonstrated the success of tripartite networking and community resource collaboration for at-risk adolescents.
• Music therapy is a promising arts-based intervention for juvenile justice rehabilitation.
• Further development and implementation of arts-based rehabilitation services are recommended, with a focus on program sustainability.