Abstract:
Research shows that the arts hold a particular potential for promoting health, well-being and social inclusion for vulnerable people. However, the use and consumption of the arts tend to be socially skewed in favour of people with high cultural, social and economic capital. While extensive research has been conducted on how to create equal access to arts activities for vulnerable groups, little research has investigated how to ensure meaningful engagement with the arts by this group. Shared Reading (SR) has had considerable success in engaging vulnerable groups in collective literary practices, and research suggests that this may partly be due to the unique forms of social and literary engagement that the concept fosters. These forms of engagement, we suggest, lay the foundation for a sense of equality among participants that may promote social connectedness and well-being. On this basis, the present study aims to investigate whether and how a sense of equality may play a role in SR practices. The study found that SR promotes a sense of equality by creating a space where social interaction and relatedness does not hinge on social roles, but rather on lived experiences-and vulnerabilities inherent to these-conveyed through literary texts and shared among participants. However, to promote a sense of equality in SR, meaningful engagement for all participants must be ensured, making facilitation an essential element of SR practices and an important focus in arts interventions in general. We conclude that SR, and arts interventions more generally, may be a promising way to promote a sense of equality, but further research is needed on the specific qualities of and potential contexts for the promotion of a sense of equality.
摘要:
研究表明,艺术具有促进健康的特殊潜力,弱势群体的福祉和社会包容。然而,艺术的使用和消费往往在社会上偏向于具有高度文化的人,社会和经济资本。虽然已经就如何为弱势群体创造平等的艺术活动进行了广泛的研究,很少有研究调查如何确保这个群体与艺术有意义的接触。共享阅读(SR)在让弱势群体参与集体文学实践方面取得了相当大的成功,和研究表明,这可能部分是由于独特的形式的社会和文学参与的概念培育。这些参与形式,我们建议,为参与者之间的平等感奠定基础,这可能会促进社会联系和福祉。在此基础上,本研究旨在调查平等感是否以及如何在SR实践中发挥作用。研究发现,SR通过创造一个社会互动和亲密关系不取决于社会角色的空间来促进平等感,而是通过文学文本传达并在参与者之间分享的生活经验和固有的脆弱性。然而,为了促进SR的平等感,必须确保所有参与者的有意义的参与,使便利化成为SR实践的基本要素,也是一般艺术干预的重要重点。我们得出结论,SR,更广泛的艺术干预,可能是促进平等意识的一种有希望的方式,但是需要进一步研究促进平等感的具体品质和潜在背景。