Excerpt: Music-Making in U.S. Prisons, pp 156–57 Mary L. Cohen and Stuart P. Duncan

For community members with little or no personal experience with people in custody, musical performances introduce them to some of the human experiences of incarcerated populations and allow them to empathize with the performers. The interactions at these events can lead community members to reflect on their experiences and may challenge their preconceptions about incarcerated people. For community members who take an active role in challenging the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC), musical performances and learning exchanges designed to combine musical performance with dialogue offer spaces for information sharing, listening, and conversation.

Not everything about musical performance in this context is free from challenges. Amanda Weber, founder and leader of the Voices of Hope Women’s Prison Choir in Minnesota, cautions that people could potentially leave a concert or a rehearsal inside a prison overconfident, believing that they know the ins and outs of prisons. If they think they are experts on this highly complex topic, they may contribute to further misconceptions in their conversations with others who have little or no awareness of prisons. Moreover, she warns that if outside volunteers’ internal change does not result in external actions, the people who primarily benefit will be the majority status group and there will be no efforts to dismantle the PIC (Weber 2018, 154–56). In her recognition of racial injustice in imprisonment in the US, Weber suggests that members of society, especially those participating in music-making in prisons, must “reflect on our own identity formation and our commitment to one another” (169) rather than feeling like they are “called to help.” Weber calls on us to recognize how our beliefs, our biases, and our lack of listening to and understanding the complex stories of people impacted by prisons can inadvertently perpetuate harmful systems. In addition to this, we need to commit to living in a way that acknowledges our common humanity and practise empathy, forgiveness, and compassion for ourselves and others.

Musical leaders in prisons require a variety of pedagogical tools to create mutually respectful relationships with and among all involved; they must also incorporate a culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogical framework. Other theoretical approaches such as restorative justice and peacebuilding practices emphasize a collaborative “with” approach in order to develop mutual trust, rather than a “sage on the stage” mentality (Cohen and Duncan 2015). Karin Hendricks illustrates how participants’ authentic voices and stories can be expressed more easily when healthy relationships between instructor and students have been established (Hendriks 2018). According to Hendricks, building trust has two central components: let the learners govern themselves; and support the learners to guide one another.

Given that incarcerated individuals have little autonomy, promoting rather than suppressing participant input can help group members feel empowered. However, some musical participants may find such autonomy uncomfortable in an ensemble setting, and others may not wish to provide input, so understanding the individual needs of each ensemble member, and guiding them toward developing their agency, is paramount. A musical leader must allow for a wide variety of levels of participation in the prison-based ensemble, affirming participants’ potential and inviting opportunities for shared leadership. It is necessary to critically consider which types of arts-based approaches support human dignity and social responsibility, and how to facilitate those approaches in a manner that builds a sense of personal and communal respect.