Culture Therapy among Prison Inmates: Experience of West Bengal Prisons

Abstract

Culture Therapy refers to use the creative vehicles of performing arts (like theatre, drama, dance, etc.) for exposure of prisoners in a controlled & planned manner within the mainstream society. The core of the intervention is persistent training of prison inmates to prepare them for stage performance in a public place. The primary objective is to promote psycho-social well being of the prisoners. But the intervention helps in transformation of the prison environment to a more enabling one for reformation and correction, and, also to sensitize the larger society for creation of a pro-rehabilitative social environment. This paper analyses the background of initiation of Culture Therapy in prisons of West Bengal (a State in eastern part of India) and experience of conducting the intervention. On the basis of the analysis, various management issues which need to be factored for successful replication of culture therapy are culled out in this paper. The intervention may be conceptualized as a process consisting of four stages – Initiation, Preparation, Performance, & Post performance. Administrative officials / Social Workers role involves ensuring various tasks in each of the four stages.  The distinguishable feature of Culture Therapy is that it can be used for sensitizing the community and in decreasing stigma towards prisoners. Other corrective-rehabilitative measures like vocational training, continuing education, or, counseling, have no or limited scope for community sensitization. Hence, culture therapy as a tool of reformation has multiple action point, which makes it strategically powerful.