Running Head: Youth Work, Delinquency and the Arts

Authors

  • Michael Forster University of Southern Mississippi
  • Tim Rehner University of Southern Mississippi

Abstract

If grounded in a youth development perspective, art programs can be effective tools in combating juvenile delinquency. The Family Network Partnership integrates community-based programs in writing, graphic arts and the performance arts into an array of academic, recreational, counseling and family support services aimed at reducing delinquency among low-income African-American youth in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. This article outlines the art program itself, describes its evolution, including a number of substantial challenges it faces, and calls attention to some of the benefits of joining youth work and the arts in this way. The effectiveness of arts programs in juvenile correctional settings has been documented, albeit somewhat scantily (see, for example, Browning, 1998; Durland, 1996; Hillman, 1983, 1998a). Programs in writing, the graphic arts and the performance arts, moreover, have been applied specifically to preventing juvenile delinquency and contributing to "alternative cultures" for high-risk youth in a wide range of school and community settings (Browning, 1998; Costello, 1995; Hillman, 1998b; National Endowment for the Arts, 1997), This paper describes a unique community-based partnership developed to provide arts programs to delinquent youth and youth at-risk for delinquency in low-income, predominantly African-American neighborhoods of Hattiesburg (Forrest County), Mississippi (population approximately 70,000). Directed by the authors, the project links a range of key actors in efforts to plan and implement arts-oriented programming. Partners in the venture include the county youth court and detention center, the local arts council, the city police department and housing authority, the university's college of the arts, and practicing artists from the local community. The fruits of these efforts have been innovative programs in writing, graphic arts, and the performance arts provided to youth at the county detention center and at a community housing authority site. Initial success of this university-community partnership has led to invitations from others concerned for delinquency prevention/reduction to expand the project into new areas. The following remarks will briefly address the background of the project; the program itself, as it has evolved and it immediate plans; and a short reflection on the value of joining youth work and the arts in this way.

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Published

2001-03-01

How to Cite

Forster, M. ., & Rehner, T. (2001). Running Head: Youth Work, Delinquency and the Arts. Journal of Child and Youth Care Work, 15, 116–127. Retrieved from http://acycpjournal.pitt.edu/ojs/jcycw/article/view/297

Issue

Vol. 15-16 (2001)

Section

Program Design

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