Incarceration comes with the responsibility on the side of authorities to rehabilitate all offenders. This is fiscally and morally the right thing to do for prison officials. It has been fueled by the rising rates of incarceration, the changing doors of recidivism, and longer sentences.
The United Nations, for instance, has put a strong argument in favor of prison reforms when it comes to the financial issues of prisoners as well as their rights as human beings.
The UN argues that the impact of imprisonment on families and the imprisoned individuals and all the economic factors affecting them should be looked at when implementing prison reforms.
Research has indicated that prisoners stand to benefit in different ways with the implementation of therapeutic arts in the prison complex.
For instance, inmates struggling with things such as empowerment, confidence, and self-worth can benefit a lot from arts education. It is also important in
treating addiction among inmates.
Studies have also shown that there exists a strong link between therapeutic art and the development of the brain for inmates. This helps them develop the right thinking skills and self-regulation of their emotions.
Therapeutic art in Texas prisons encourages positivity in several ways, including;
Emotional Control
Emotional and social development are closely linked together. Emotional development involves how prisoners control and understand their emotions no matter what they are going through.
Emotional control for inmates in Texas prisons can be measured by how they react when things are not going the way they expect them to go. The introduction of therapeutic art in Texas prisons has made sure that the inmates can control their emotions.
This has played a major role in transforming the lives of most of the inmates. Due to this change, there has been an increase in
inmate search with families and loved ones checking the release dates of inmates due to their good conduct.
Time Management
The introduction of therapeutic art in Texas prisons has proved that self-discipline and management go hand in hand with art practice and education in the prisons. Most inmates in Texas have become more focused and disciplined when working on their arts.
This explains the improved time management skills witnessed on the inmates who have engaged themselves with therapeutic art.
Even though life in prison has some constraints especially when it comes to the ability of the prisoners to control their own time, most prisoners have been able to effectively manage their time due to therapeutic art in the prisons.
Self Confidence and Intellectual Flexibility
Inmates in Texas prisons engaging in therapeutic art have shown that they believe that they have the capability to do anything that they need without being pushed.
This is different from those who do not have arts education or do not practice art as they feel that they cannot achieve their goals, especially after incarceration.
Engaging in the art process which involves being creative and training on different things improves the self-confidence of inmates. This grows as they gain more experience in the arts.
Finally, for one to be
successful in solving problems, they need an innovative, flexible, and creative brain. This is heavily reliant on the type of activities that a person engages in.
Therapeutic art in Texas prisons has helped most prisoners with that kind of brain, something that has been very helpful in giving them the right intellectual flexibility.
This shows that therapeutic art is very crucial in Texas when it comes to encouraging positivity among inmates.