The Need
In 2005 we completed a needs assessment to
prove the value of our program. We do these programs because of
these numbers:
12 out of 100- the number of juveniles that will be the victim
of a violent crime this year nation-wide. Juveniles are by far,
the highest age group to be targets of crime.
13,200 (Less than 1% of LA Teens)- The number of youth 16-19
years of age in Los Angeles who are neither in school nor in the
labor force. Almost all of these teens will go through one or
more institutions this year before they turn 18 years of age:
5,000 of these teens are from foster care group homes not in
permanent placement;
4,000 go through LA County Probation 1
2,900 go through California Youth Authority 1
3-12 months- The average stay in a County or State
institution. Then many are back on the street.
58%- The percentage of foster youth who end up in adult prison
for violent crimes. 3
91% of youth will be rearrested, 53% for more violent crimes .
$1.7 million- The cost of incarcerating one youth over the
course of his sentence 5 .
$720 million- An estimate of the cost of juvenile crime in
annual medical costs in Los Angeles County .
The best place to change a kid's view of the world is when this
small 1% of LA youth (that do 90% of the damage) is in
institutions. Yet, we've found that our program is only one of
very few that is offered to kids in institutions. If we don't
change their attitudes at this stage, they will be lost to a
life in corrections and society will pay for it in prison costs,
medical costs and crime.
In a recently published study on the resiliency of youth, Bonnie
Bernard has found hope. Her study found that 50-70% of the most
at-risk youth make it as successful adults. What is the
difference in these youth? She found that buffers (protective
factors) make a more profound impact in the life course of
children who grow up under adverse conditions than do specific
risk factors or stressful life events. She goes on to report
that in youth with negative family situations it is community
based organizations and schools that provide those protective
factors.
Arts programs have proven to stem the tide of violence. In 1983,
Dr. Lawrence Brewster, Sociology Professor at California State
University at San Jose, found that prison Arts In Corrections
programs reduced incidents of violence within the prison by
75-81% and saved close to double the cost of the program in
measurable benefits such as security and medical costs. By 1987,
it was proven that the program lowered recidivism rates by 51%
at a cost of $19/per class hour for each student. (No such
program exists in youth corrections.)
More than a dozen independent studies have found that students
with high levels of arts participation outperform arts-poor
students in achievement in other academic subjects. According to
an LAUSD report, students who have art throughout high school
score 59 points higher on verbal SATs and 44 points higher on
Math SATs. The evidence also shows that high arts participation
makes a more significant difference to students from low-income
backgrounds. Researchers also found that sustained involvement
in music and theater are highly correlated with success in
mathematics and reading . Drama education in particular is a
gateway to increased skills in oral language, writing, movement,
critical thinking, decision-making, and more scholarly pursuits.
We incorporate the California State Standards for Arts Education
and English Language Writing into our curriculum.
Theatre has therapeutic aspects built into the process, which
leads to discipline, self examination and working with others of
different backgrounds. Also, from a career perspective, arts and
entertainment jobs are a large part of the Los Angeles economy
and one of the few things America still exports overseas.
Theatre beginnings often lead to jobs in set construction,
animation, design, and journalism to name a few. Added job
potential, literacy, interview skills, creative thinking and
group projects are all protective factors that reduce violence
in teens.
In addition to nurturing communication skills and creativity,
the program builds individual self-respect. For some, this
confidence motivates them to overcome difficult backgrounds and
set previously unimaginable goals, such as going to college. The
kids that come through TUS programs experience the success of
creating a thing to call their own. This program offers these
kids that experience as a step toward creating a positive future
for themselves. The process provides them an opportunity to work
with peers of different races and gang affiliations bridging
their differences. The product raises social consciousness,
teaching them they are woven in a social fabric and each one is
part of a larger whole.
Currently there is no other program of this kind working
regularly in juvenile corrections or foster care, either on a
county or state level. Our programs are designed to fill the
need in providing a quality theatre program to institutionalized
youth.
Targeted Conditions:
Our client base is made up of youth with the following risk
factors:
A destructive or non-existent home life.
Past victims of abuse.
Poverty.
Gang affiliation.
Drug abuse.
Underperforming schools or school drop outs.
Racial/territorial tensions from the environment.
Peer pressure and family pressures to participate in illegal
or irresponsible activities.
Low self-esteem and no positive identity.
No sense of belonging outside of negative groups such as
gangs.
No sense of achievement in positive areas.
The following are the conditions our program is designed to
address. These are the protective factors:
A sense of belonging to a positive group made up of youth and
adults of other races and backgrounds. This replaces a need for
a gang and eases racial conflicts.
A place where that experience can carry on into the community
after the youth leave the juvenile institutions. This helps
replace a non-existent home life or the temptation to return to
gang life.
A positive experience on stage that provides a natural high.
A program that addresses the state standards for performing
arts and can help them with attaining their GED and going on to
college in the arts.
An environment that teaches cultural awareness and opens
participant's perspectives on race and gangs.
Positive peer pressure to participate in responsible and
rewarding activities that provide a future and drive to succeed
in participants.
New self-esteem and positive identity as an artist and
creative individual and member of an ensemble cast.
A sense of achievement in positive areas of a participant's
life.
Outcomes (Intermediate Effects on The Participants):
Reduced levels of violence while institutionalized thereby
making facilities safer for both staff and wards.
Changes in participants attitudes towards peers of other races
and gang affiliations.
Changes in attitude towards staff and authority figures.
Sense of pride and self-esteem as creative individuals.
Social Consciousness- understanding through ensemble theatre
that each of us is part of a larger whole.
Empowerment and goal setting.
Impacts (Long Term Effects The Program Is Designed to
Achieve)
Participants renounce violence as a way of life.
Participants remain open to new ideas, learning and people of
different races and backgrounds.
Maturity in response to authority, rules and the law.
Growing confidence in one's own abilities.
Growing social consciousness with a need to give back to the
community.
Achievement of personal goals such as attaining a GED,
college, a trade, continuing in the arts, etc.
BACK TO TOP
Theory of Change
Through The Unusual Suspects (US) theatre program of 12
weeks, youth spend time in an ensemble cast working on a
production with peers of different races and gang affiliations,
and with adults in a supportive role. Through this experience a
world is opened to them of creativity; new thoughts about adults
and their peers; and pride of accomplishment. Through remaining
involved outside of the institution while on probation or
parole, participants can reconnect with the program and continue
a journey of transformation into artists, thinkers, and
instruments of change. They can then set goals, achieve them and
become mentors for the next generation.
BACK TO TOP
Research
We are currently researching and documenting
our program through particpant pre and post surveys. We will
record the quantitative and qualitative effectiveness of our
program, in order to establish a precedent for our model for
future programs to replicate on the national and international
levels. The curriculum will be studied by students from the
University of Southern California School of Social Work using
the rehablitative model set forth by the Department of Criminal
Justice. Our intern from this school, Erin Hegarty is developing
an evaluation tool to conduct an academic study on our program
as an evidence based theraputic program that utilizes cognitive
behavioral and leadership theories in conjunction with artistic
principles to help reduce recidvism rates. There has never been
a study of an arts program as a deterant for recidivism within
juvenile detention facilities. This breaks new ground! This
study and the curriculum lay the groundwork to make our program
a national model program!
For a Word document of this click here.
For a PDF document of this click here.
