Prison Partnership Project
Description
The York St John University Prison Project provides a continuous weekly programme of arts activity that develops participant's: creativity, self-worth, interpersonal thinking skills, empathy awareness, group problem solving, and rehearsal for life role-playing.
Its programmes build on prisoner's existing strengths and potential and encourage positive engagement and creativity, in order to promote meaningful personal change and to support restorative justice. The project enables collaborative arts making to happen outside of the mainstream traditional theatre or educational learning space and looks at life beyond university and the prison walls.
It aims to encourage a positive impact on the culture of the two prisons through its pro-social learning and group work approach, complimenting other reducing reoffending and resettlement activities within the prison.
Co-designed with prison staff, the project offers choices of creative arts delivery and presents opportunities for co-evaluation and co-research in order to evidence the impact of the project and the value of the arts in the criminal justice system.
The project encourages undergraduate and postgraduate students to engage with social justice. Members facilitate on and off campus learning and offer an authentic real-life opportunity to students while studying.
The university opens its doors to: women who have been released on temporary licence (ROTL) from the open prison, engaging in resettlement arts, and women post release, are signposted to access staff expertise, student collaboration, campus performance opportunities, technical equipment and library resources.
The partnership project supports emerging student practitioners and artists in skills development within this area of practice, in realising the benefit and value of the arts for social change, gender responsive and trauma informed ways of working and the importance of a university's role in shaping quality arts within the criminal justice system.
Offers funding
No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.
Founding year
2013
Contact details
Lord Mayors Walk
York
YO31 7EX
United Kingdom
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Project Tags
Parent infrastructure(s)
The Institute for Social Justice was launched in 2020 to underpin York St John University’s mission ‘to stand up for social justice’. It does so through developing collaborative rese… read more about Institute for Social Justice
York St. John University
Lord Mayors Walk
York
YO31 7EX
United Kingdom
University affiliation(s)
Partner Infrastructures
The Institute for Social Justice was launched in 2020 to underpin York St John University’s mission ‘to stand up for social justice’. It does so through developing collaborative rese… read more about Institute for Social Justice
York
Last modified:
2024-09-21 00:00:05