Meet Hui in music: a case report of group music therapy for a Chinese male prisoner

Abstract

This case report illustrates the change process of one inmate participant in a group music therapy. The case was selected from a research project of group music therapy for offenders. The participant Hui, a male inmate, participated 20 biweekly sessions of group music therapy for male adult inmates in a Chinese prison. Three methods, music improvisation, music and imagery, and song writing were used in the therapy. Music therapy led Hui (pseudonym) to change from a defensive isolated man into a person who was able to experience and share his emotions with other group members through music. In this case report, we detailed the transformative process of Hui and elaborated the music therapist's reflection from the theoretical and cultural perspectives. Later, the theoretical issues related to treatment in offender rehabilitation context were discussed in-depth. By making the intervention process transparent for the public, we hope this case report can help readers to understand how the effects of music therapy on decreasing anxiety and depression, and improving self-esteem that found in the research may have taken place in the intervention.

Alliance building in music therapy for forensic psychiatric patients with schizophrenia. An exploratory case study research design

“…Music therapy is described to offer a unique contribution to treatment of persons in forensic psychiatric hospitals or prisons (Chen & Hannibal, 2019;Compton-Dickinson, 6 Accepted manuscript. Final version: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08098131.2020.1827452 2014; Gold et al, 2014;Hakvoort et al, 2015;Hakvoort & Bogaerts, 2013;Leith, 2014), to increase self-esteem and social competencies and reduce anxiety and depression in offenders (Chen, 2014), and to increase the experience of self-perception in female patients (Leith, 2014).…”