Anatomy of a Reconstructed Spirit: Transforming Young Minds Through the Power of Creative Expression
Open AccessIn today’s urban environments, crime and violence is an unfortunately part of the American landscape. For instance, the FBI’s release of the 2014 Crime Statistics report, indicates that in 2014 collectively nationwide, law enforcement agencies made 11.2 million arrest for both violent and property crimes. From those arrest, approximately 1.7 million of those cases are those in which youth were charged with delinquency offenses. The sad fact is, that children and adolescents are more and more frequently committing these crimes and engaging in delinquent behavior. Coming from homes and environments where the parent, often, a single mother, is either disengaged, uninvolved, overwhelmed, addicted or just plain tired, these children find themselves lured to the streets. These children are disinterested in anything other than what the streets, and their fellow misguided peers have to offer, and more often than what should be the case, what they have to offer, is trouble and mischief. This mischief manifest itself into the 1.7 million youth who are arrested yearly throughout our nation for mostly non-violent, but also violent offenses. Art based programing has proven effective in the promotion of positive youth development, incorporated into a designed environment that is visually stimulating and interactive in nature, this type of art based programing can affect the moods, feelings and behaviors of youth housed in detention facilities. From this perspective, precedence will be analyzed, incorporated with the knowledge and information from practical work experience and onsite research. From this, a prototype for a juvenile shelter or group home will be designed. The prototype will integrate art based programming with a visually stimulating environment that will inspire and encourage youth towards a sense of hope, and promote feelings of self-interest. This space will engage children and allow them to discover their interest, talents and promote social interaction and positive change. This thesis will explore how therapeutic art based programming administered in a thoughtfully designed environment can be utilized as a rehabilitative tool in the juvenile delinquency system to bring about structure. Transplanting youth coming from high-risk environments into an interactive and visually stimulating one, and assisting them with developing skills and interest that will help them succeed, will push them towards normal adult development despite coming from the most adverse circumstances. Through this method, design will ultimately prove to bring about positive social change to a population of youth who have long been neglected and misunderstood.
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