Creative arts are overly caricatured as non-essentially flossy and unmerited luxury particularly when executed in a jail setting. However, research suggests that art-based prison programs can significantly bear upon the lives of offenders. In this paper the authors make reference to this connotation in order to investigate the potential for an art-based prison program involving repeated viewing of emotionally laden paintings to influence attitudes towards crime among male sex offenders. Towards this goal the authors used a one group pretest-posttest quasi experimental design to assess the participants’ general attitudes to offending (G scale), anticipation of re-offending (A scale), victim hurt denial(V scale) and evaluation of crime as worthwhile(E scale). Rape and defilement convicts aged 18-45 years from Nairobi West Prison participated in sessions that were facilitated three times a week during the 5 week program. A paired T- Test showed statistically significant improvements between post-test1 and pre-test (t=-3.117, p-value=0.003) and between post-test2 and pre-test (t=-2.161, p-value=0.035). Positive results were found for three attitude measures; G scale, A-scale and E-scale. The findings suggest that participation in art prison programs involving repeated viewing of emotive artwork can be an effective intervention resulting in attitude change among male sex offenders.

Although art viewing experiences occur in varied contexts, responses of audience may be profoundly affected by the presentation format. In this paper, focus is drawn upon participation in a digital paintings exhibition and visual representation in assessing the responses of male sex offenders to digital paintings that illustrate the consequences of sexual crimes. The relationship between arts and technology is an emerging area of interest in modern research. In addition to the traditional gallery displays, digital technologies have provided new ways of audience participation in arts, enabling more involvement in the way art is consumed. The authors sought to determine the effect of viewing screen projected images in Rapid Serial Visual Presentation and in a gallery display. The study applied brief repeated exposures as described in Mere Exposure research. The study utilized temporary exhibition displays and projection by Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) where the respondents were passive participants, simply viewing the artwork. The participants were drawn from male sexual offenders aged 18-45 years at Nairobi West Prison, a male offenders’ facility in Nairobi City County. Stratified random sampling was used to select 61 male offenders convicted for defilement and rape. Respondents were randomly assigned to two experimental conditions involving viewing in projection by RSVP and gallery display. A five-point Likert scale was used to measure the participants’ responses to digital paintings illustrating consequences of sexual crimes. A Multivariate Analysis was used to assess ratings of the digital paintings against the various components of art. Findings show that painting style, colour schemes, themes and exposure frequency significantly influenced the participants’ responses to the digital paintings. The study recommends use of comparative analysis to determine how exposure to digital paintings impacts differently on other types of audiences.

Health is categorized as a security issue as its lack causes individuals to fall ill, be disabled or die. Being deficient of health can therefore disrupt entire populations, economies, and governments. The Copenhagen School proposed the Securitization Theory that could be applied in the identifcation and response to given health threats. Part of the theory’s strategy is the use of effective communication in mobilizing groups that would combat identifed health threats. Other studies have reported the use of 2-D Animation, a type of ICT-based solution, as gaining currency in situations where it is important to get the message through to communities and have it correctly internalized. This paper puts a case for the utilization of 2-D Animation for effective communication in society for health and security. It reports a study that sought to establish whether 2-D Animation was effective in communicating good hygiene practice messages to children in Githurai Location, Kiambu County, Kenya. The study first identifed how good hygiene practice messages were being communicated in the area. An experimental target group was then treated with a 2-D animation developed for study before psychometrics were applied to determine its efficacy in effectively communicating the messages. Data obtained was analyzed using independent t-tests and a one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The fndings showed a signifcant difference between the experimental group and the control group thathad not been treated with the animation (t (292) =5.031, p ˂ 0.001). The fndings further indicated a signifcant difference in all the thinking skills of the Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives of the Cognitive Domain except evaluation. The results therefore put a case for 2-D Animation’s consideration as an ICT mitigator for effective communication in society for health and security.