Date of Award

Spring 5-2004

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

EVMS School of Health Professions

Program/Concentration

Art Therapy

Abstract

Humanitarian aid organizations, both domestic and international, provide health care, mental health services, education, and community development for traumatized children worldwide living in regions affected by political violence. Sparse information exists regarding the role of an art therapist within these organizations. The profession of art therapy lacks research specific to the benefits of intervention and program development within the context of an international humanitarian aid team. This thesis reviews the ethnographic research of an art therapy graduate student who explored the opportunities for art therapy within such a team.

Cultural competency was an essential component of the researcher’s success while in Ayacucho. The cross-cultural nature of the study necessitated an in-depth review of the Peruvian culture from an insider’s vantage point. The participant observer works to “get inside the system and discover such workings and meaning from the point of view of a full participant in the system…he has both the objective and the involved actor’s perspective” (Lambie, 1996, p.11).

The researcher aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of the history and culture of Ayacucho, Peru. Interviews were conducted with community members and fellow members of the humanitarian aid team. The researcher maintained daily personal journaling to record her own experience of the work with the children and her interactions within the culture. She observed the children’s responses to various art processes and materials inviting them to teach her how they preferred to be approached. An outcome of the research was a synthesis of these understandings into a list of guidelines for the provision of art therapy in Ayacucho and other communities affected by political violence.

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