Women performing music in prison: an exploration of the resources that come into play

To date, discourse on the use of performance in music therapy has mostly focused on the potential risks and benefits to the health of music therapy participants. This article focuses instead on the resources that can come into play when music therapy participants perform publically, drawing upon findings from a qualitative case study of seven women who created and performed a musical in a maximum-security prison in Australia. In-depth interviews with the women were analysed using a constructivist approach to grounded theory analysis, yielding five main resources as both precursors and outcomes to performance in music therapy: courage, readiness, exchange, support and trust (CREST). These findings are discussed in relation to resource-oriented music therapy and provide contextual information as to when, rather than if, performance may be considered therapeutically valuable in music therapy.