| The belief that the arts should prove to have some more conspicuously sociological value beyond mere aesthetic ends has long dominated the American attitude. Not dissimilarly, the prevailing sentiments the nation holds of its incarcerated is largely founded on the rather callous dismissal of them as having proven themselves disposable from a socio-economic perspective. However, what if the arts, instead of yielding direct sociological results, lays a necessary foundation that can then contribute to an overall personal development, one that includes among other attributes a sociological facet? The following pages contain an examination of three programs that teach acting and stagecraft to prison inmates, with the ends of mounting theatrical productions with the convicts working alongside trained theatre professionals. The dissertation catalogs the working process and agendas of the separate programs, each one operating in different historical contexts and/or according to different mission statements. Employing the most influential theories from criminology and penology, as well as important works of performance theory, the author herein examines how the theatre, simply by virtue of its nature as a uniquely communal art form, intersects with the mission of corrections. The observations gleaned from the study suggest that the theatre has humanistic and artistic benefits that assist, if not overtly contribute to, the personal development of prison inmates in a way that traditional rehabilitative and psycho-analytical programs---including conventional drama therapy---do not. |
