Parts of the Whole: The Body Is Home
Mentor 1
Maria Gillespie
Start Date
16-4-2021 12:00 AM
Description
Prior research has examined the effects of punitive sanctions and institutions on individuals’ mental, physical, and emotional autonomy and agency. Incarcerated populations are processed through carceral systems perpetuating injustice, violence, and abuse, in which access to spaces of creativity, kinesthetic learning, and expression are diminished. Evidence has shown that somatic and movement education facilitates holistic development in which the body can utilize mechanisms such as body and breath awareness, rhythmicity, and community attunement to recognize and manage trauma. Our teaching practice builds upon restorative and transformative justice frameworks to support the idea that these processes may be significantly impactful for incarcerated youth at the Vel R. Phillips Justice Center by emphasizing identity affirmation, bodily autonomy, and the perception of the body as a home and haven. Through weekly movement workshops, writing activities, and online resources, we envision that students will display an increased willingness to participate in individual and group creative practices, physical and narrative actualizations, and interpersonal connections throughout and beyond their duration within the carceral institution.
Parts of the Whole: The Body Is Home
Prior research has examined the effects of punitive sanctions and institutions on individuals’ mental, physical, and emotional autonomy and agency. Incarcerated populations are processed through carceral systems perpetuating injustice, violence, and abuse, in which access to spaces of creativity, kinesthetic learning, and expression are diminished. Evidence has shown that somatic and movement education facilitates holistic development in which the body can utilize mechanisms such as body and breath awareness, rhythmicity, and community attunement to recognize and manage trauma. Our teaching practice builds upon restorative and transformative justice frameworks to support the idea that these processes may be significantly impactful for incarcerated youth at the Vel R. Phillips Justice Center by emphasizing identity affirmation, bodily autonomy, and the perception of the body as a home and haven. Through weekly movement workshops, writing activities, and online resources, we envision that students will display an increased willingness to participate in individual and group creative practices, physical and narrative actualizations, and interpersonal connections throughout and beyond their duration within the carceral institution.
