Developing Research Approaches for Arts Based Social Work Practice Methods

Purpose: A “grand challenge” for our society and profession is developing and identifying evidence informed practice methods that can work effectively with members of more marginalized populations, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) populations, young people and emerging adults, people with experiences of homelessness and people with disabilities. Arts-based practice methods using visual arts, theatre, and music are often used as a means of engaging people from marginalized groups who may not be reached in more conventional ways. Social workers have used the arts at different scales of intervention throughout the history of the profession, including individual-level clinical work, activity-based group work, community-based activities and, to a lesser extent, policy initiatives.

Social workers in North America generally perceive the use of the arts in social work practice in positive terms. Yet, while individual studies demonstrate the efficacy of particular arts-based interventions and though social work practitioners attest to the utility of the arts in their work, scholars have yet to devise a general approach to conducting research on arts-based social work. This lack of a general approach prevents the more widespread use of the arts in social work as the benefits of arts-based practice have been analytically confined to small scale studies and contextually specific practice wisdom.  

Methods: This roundtable session will begin a dialogue about how to construct a general approach to conducting research on arts-based social work practice. We will compare the approaches used by the panelists in empirically exploring various arts-based interventions. These studies include: 1) an ethnographic analysis of arts-based community organizing among queer and trans people of color in Toronto, Canada 2) reflections on a theatre project highlighting the employment challenges of skilled immigrants in Canada; 3) an ethnographic study and audio documentary exploring a music studio in a transitional living program for young people experiencing homelessness in Chicago, IL; and 4) an evaluation of the effects of a theater program located in Detroit, MI, on youth development .

Results and Implications for Practice: We will discuss the commonalities and differences among these studies in terms of their context, the populations involved, the types of arts-based interventions employed and the research methods used to investigate their efficacy. This discussion will be used as a starting point to collaboratively and dialogically develop key principles that may serve as the basis for a general approach to analyzing the various iterations of arts-based social work practice presented. The goal of this roundtable is to stimulate conversation that will promote an integration and synthesis of existing approaches to conducting research on arts-based social work interventions.