Expressive Arts Therapy With Incarcerated Juvenile Teens
This paper describes an expressive arts therapy intervention designed for incarcerated juvenile teenagers who expressed self-consciousness and skepticism about traditional art-making. The intervention centers on altering or defacing photographs and magazine covers with oil pastels and acrylic paint, removing the pressure of artistic skill while preserving the emotional and self-discovery benefits of the creative process. The paper also discusses dance as an alternative expressive modality and addresses the importance of structured group formats for adolescents. Key themes include creating safe, distraction-free environments, maintaining small group sizes, and prioritizing the creative process over outcomes to foster self-esteem and emotional expression.
- Introduction to the Expressive Arts Intervention: Rationale for using expressive arts with incarcerated teens
- Photo and Magazine Cover Defacing as a Creative Tool: Using altered images to lower creative barriers
- Dance as an Alternative Expressive Modality: Dance routines as group-based expressive therapy
- Structured Group Format for Adolescent Therapy: Why structured groups work better for adolescents
- Efficacy of Expressive Arts for Teenage Clients: Summary of expressive arts therapy benefits for teens
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds its intervention in a specific, real-world population — incarcerated juvenile teens — giving the recommendations practical relevance and context.
- It addresses a common barrier to art therapy (client self-consciousness about artistic skill) and proposes a concrete, low-threshold solution: defacing existing images rather than creating original art.
- The paper includes two distinct modalities — visual art and dance — demonstrating breadth and flexibility in the intervention design.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper effectively links theoretical rationale to practical application. Each intervention choice — eliminating artistic judgment, using structured groups, restricting group size — is connected to a specific therapeutic goal such as reducing pressure, grounding adolescents, or fostering self-esteem. This technique of justifying design decisions with clinical reasoning strengthens the overall argument.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens by identifying the client population and the central challenge (self-consciousness), then introduces the photo-defacing intervention as a solution. It follows with dance as an alternative modality, transitions into a discussion of structured versus unstructured group formats for adolescents, and closes with a brief synthesis of why expressive arts therapy is effective for teenagers. The structure moves logically from problem to method to rationale.
Introduction to the Expressive Arts Intervention
The expressive arts intervention described here involves altering or defacing photographs and magazine covers using oil pastels or acrylic paint. While working with incarcerated juvenile teenagers, it became clear that many participants were self-conscious and skeptical about making art. To alleviate this self-consciousness and skepticism — while still allowing them to benefit from the emotional growth and self-discovery that expressive arts therapy offers — the intervention was designed so that participants do not need to create an original artistic piece (Sharma and Dhawan, 2021). The teens lacked confidence in their artistic abilities, but the objective is not to evaluate those abilities; rather, it is to engage them in the expressive process itself. Defacing existing pictures and magazine covers removes concerns about skill and makes the process fun, surprising, challenging, and humorous.
Photo and Magazine Cover Defacing as a Creative Tool
The expressive arts therapy approach uses pictures or magazine covers to engage participants in the creative process. The demonstration involves using paints to alter the complexion of images or to expressively deform them. For example, an entertainment magazine cover can be used to cut out parts of an image — such as the ears — and replace them with ears from another cover, such as elves' ears, painted in green (Levy, 2012). This approach engages participants in a more creative process by emphasizing the act of creation rather than the outcome. The focus is on process over product, which lowers the stakes and invites genuine participation.
Dance as an Alternative Expressive Modality
An alternative demonstration of expressive art involves engaging the teens in a dance lesson. Performing basic dance routines and inviting clients to introduce their own modifications is effective for creative expression. Inviting clients to participate as a group is also essential for fostering self-esteem, since how well the dances are performed does not matter — what matters is the commitment to the dance and the process as a whole (Sharma and Dhawan, 2021). The choice of music should be tailored to the nature of the dance routine, and the environment should be painted in vibrant colors. Group size is restricted to six participants, and new clients may join the routine at any time. Ensuring that all participants put away distractions such as phones is critical to creating a safe environment and alleviating pressure to perform well.
References
Levy, I. (2012). Hip hop and spoken word therapy with urban youth. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 25(4), 219–224.
Sharma, K., and Dhawan, P. (2021). Strokes of strength: An expressive arts-based intervention with adolescents. Journal of Psychological Research, 3(4).
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