BENGALURU: Music breaks the toughest barriers, heals deepest wounds and somewhere opens a window inside a dying hope. In correctional settings, music as therapy has been found to play a positive role in improving the mental health of people on the other side of law.
Ramitha Rajendran (23), an alumna of Mount Carmel College, just completed her postgraduation in criminology with specialisation in forensic psychology from the premier National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU), Gandhinagar, Gujarat. As a first, she used music as therapy for juvenile offenders -- the young inmates at the Empowerment of Children & Human Rights Organisation (ECHO) Special Home for Children in Conflict with Law as part of her internship programme.
“Ramitha approached us for permission to see if she can use music as therapy for the young inmates in our special home as part of her internship for her postgraduation. We play music in the special home but Ramitha’s internship motivated us further to have music as part of the curriculum. We found it beneficial for the inmates, some of whom don’t open up at all,” said Father Anthony Sebastian, founder-director, ECHO.
Rajendran designed her four-week-long internship around Yanni and Yiruma -- the two great global contemporary instrumental composers and musicians and spread it over 12 sessions, between January and February this year.
“Children in conflict with law experience significant emotional and social vulnerabilities that can hinder their rehabilitation and reintegration. Music therapy works on emotional regulation and social cognition. For my internship, I worked out a structured group music therapy intervention module, integrating active and receptive techniques such as rhythmic engagements, instrumental expression, guided music listening and reflective processing for the 32 participants. My basic objective was to understand how they navigate emotions and perceive and interpret the social world,” Rajendran told TNIE.
She assessed the impact of music using pre and post Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children (CERQ-Kids) and Child and Adolescent Social Cognition Questionnaire (CASCQ).
“We saw that rhythm created structure and movement allowed release. The body became a vessel for expression. While listening to ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ by ‘The Tokens’, the boys didn’t just listen to music; they reimagined and made it their own,” she said.
Following the intervention, Rajendran conducted the assessment again to understand change. “I saw a positive shift. In emotional regulation, healthier coping responses increased. In social cognition perception and interpretation of situations improved,” said the young researcher.
“There were different responses. One child broke down and said he missed his mother,” she added.’“Another boy, who was convicted under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances) Act, was having difficulties in settling down. Music helped him sober down. After Ramitha’s internship, we have bought some musical instruments and are looking to hire some tutors,” said Sebastian.
Rajendran’s study, albeit in a small setting of juveniles, underscores the potential of music therapy as a creative, subtle, immersive and engaging tool to help heal young broken lives. Healing is intrinsic to rehabilitation and reintegration. It sows the seed of change and hope.