The Challenge of Redefining the Imprisoned Self as an Artist: The Pedagogical Rituals of a Prison Arts Instructor
| Date | 01 March 2019 |
| Author | JOSEPH H. MICHALSKI |
| Published date | 01 March 2019 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12291 |
The Howard Journal Vol58 No 1. March 2019 DOI: 10.1111/hojo.12291
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 65–85
The Challenge of Redefining the
Imprisoned Self as an Artist: The
Pedagogical Rituals of a Prison Arts
Instructor
JOSEPH H. MICHALSKI
Associate Academic Dean, King’s University College at Western, London,
Ontario, Canada
Abstract: While some advocate the use of arts programmes to help improve inmates’ lives
and reduce recidivism, the process of how such programmes can have therapeutic and
practical value in prison’s hostile environs requires further study.This project investigates
how one prison arts instructor approaches the task of developing the inmates’ creative po-
tential and unleashing their ‘inner artist’. The article describes the pedagogical approach
aimed at helping prison inmates redefine themselves as artists via art classroom rituals.
The imprisoned self as the artist, however, emerges mainly as a temporary identity that
must be submerged upon return to the daily routines of hypermasculine prison environ-
ments. Thus inmates experience a profound duality of their identities, split between ‘artist’
and ‘inmate’, which constrains the long-term therapeutic and rehabilitative value of the
intervention.
Keywords: artist; arts instruction; identity; pedagogical rituals; prison art
In 1983, the International Visual Sociology Association (IVSA) held their
first conference just months after the passing of the esteemed sociologist,
Erving Goffman. The organisers of the 2017 IVSA conference celebrated
Goffman’s seminal efforts by highlighting prominent themes in his work,
such as ‘Framing and Reframing’ and ‘The Everyday’. His earliest, and
arguably most famous, contribution stemmed from his doctoral research,
wherein Goffman (1956) developed dramaturgical analysis to conceptu-
alise face-to-face interactions as theatrical performances. In 1961, he pub-
lished Asylums (Goffman 1961) and extended the approach to examine
identity management within total institutions such as prisons and psy-
chiatric hospitals. Goffman outlined the processes through which these
institutions set the stage to shape the nature of human interactions, the
dynamics associated with impression management, and how individuals
stake out their identities.
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2018 The Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK
The Howard Journal Vol58 No 1. March 2019
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 65–85
The current article shows how Goffman’s analytic logic resonates more
than half a century later via a case study of arts instruction within prisons.
The study focuses on how an arts instructor (Phyllis Kornfeld) cultivates
a radically different classroom environment to tap into each student’s cre-
ative potential solely with the objective of unleashing the inmate’s ‘inner
artist’. The article identifies key teaching strategies and techniques aimed at
helping prisoners redefine themselves as artists. The rituals used to estab-
lish the art class environments are described in some detail. The evidence
points to the emergence of the artistic self within the instructional envi-
ronment of prison art classes as the inmates’ creative abilities are honed
and nurtured. Selected artistic renderings that the ‘inmates as artists’ have
produced help to illustrate their creative potential.
Penal Philosophy and Prison Arts
From a philosophical standpoint, penal systems have long been plagued
by tensions between the contradictory objectives of punishment versus reha-
bilitation (Hutchinson 2006; Kelly 2014; Nagin, Cullen and Jonson 2009;
V´
alkov´
a 1997). These tensions extend further to competing views about
correctional programming, such as the degree to which educational and
vocational training should be provided (Elliott 2007), as well as treatment
and therapeutic programmes (Daniel 2007). The lack of consensus has led
to unstable funding and a shifting landscape of programming alternatives.
For example, despite evidence of the therapeutic value and decreased re-
cidivism for those who participate in prison arts programmes (Arts Alliance
2011; Bielby, Caulfield and Ridley 2013), the financial support has been
inconsistent (Hewish 2015; Miles and Clarke 2006).
The efficacy of arts programmes and their positive impacts in the hostile
environments of mass incarceration require further study. A meta-analysis
reveals that the research casts doubt on the rehabilitative effects of prison
experiences and some studies identify a small criminogenic effect linked
to subsequent offending (Nagin, Cullen and Jonson 2009). The antiso-
cial and violent aspects of prison life – along with inadequate treatment
programmes, substance abuse, misdiagnoses, educational limitations, and
troubled life histories of inmates – further undermine the efficacy of poten-
tial interventions. Yeteven with these many factors working against the suc-
cessful implementation of prison arts programmes, research points to their
net positive impacts (Moller 2011; Nugent and Loucks 2011; O’Keefe and
Albertson 2016). To understand why, the current study analyses at a more
granular level how such programmes can manage to produce favourable
outcomes.
The literature that addresses the underlying rationale of the prison
arts movement can be broken down into two principal themes. On the
one hand, some prison reformists claim that effective arts programmes
help create positive changes in inmates’ lives in terms of their short-term
coping mechanisms within the carceral environment and regarding the
long-term prospects of reduced recidivism. For instance, Gussak (2007)
demonstrates the therapeutic value of art to elevate moods and reduce
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2018 The Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
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