Arts in working with youth on sensitive topics: A qualitative systematic review

Abstract

This study examines existing research on the use of arts-based methods in approaching issues sensitive for youth and children. We conducted a qualitative, systematic review of twenty academic publications on this topic from 1997 to 2017. Our results show the use of arts-based methods to (1) recognize and make visible previously invisible experiences, acts, voices and histories; (2) nurture change and transformation in the lives of the youth; and (3) allow exploring the more-than-human, more-than-present and less-than-conscious aspects in the lives of youth and children – aspects that traditional study methods might not readily access. Our findings offer teachers, researchers, practitioners, psychologists and social workers greater awareness of the use of arts-based methods in matters young people find sensitive. This review allows education professionals to achieve a broader view of methods emerging from the arts in addressing the social and psychological issues that young human beings might face.