Issues in music for children in a homeless shelter: Social objectives and choice of reinforcers

Author(s): Brotons, M.

Journal/Book: J Music Therapy. 1995; 32: 505 11TH St Se, Washington, DC 20003. Natl Assn Music Ther Inc. 248-264.

Abstract: The main purpose of the study was to determine preferences for food, clothing, or music when given a choice in order to determine potential reinforcers for further music therapy intervention. Subjects were six homeless children, ages 5-10 years, living in apartment shelters. Twenty-four additional subjects participated initially but were not counted for the data for a number of different reasons. A secondary purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of music therapy activities in teaching important social skills: empathy and cooperation. The hierarchy of skill areas chosen was predetermined by the experimenters based on a previous experimental study. An A-B-C-D design was used for this study. Three rotations of the study occurred to accommodate changes in shelter residency. In the first rotation of the design, there were six sessions under each condition, for a total of 24 sessions. In the second and third rotations, there were three sessions for each condition, for a total of 12 sessions. Condition A was baseline in which subjects' entry level for each of the social skill objectives was measured. Condition B consisted of preparing and taping a music video at the end of each session. During condition C, a choice of food or clothing was presented During this phase of the design, the experimenter brought a full dinner or newly purchased items of clothing. After the music therapy session, the children stayed and had dinner with their families and the experimenter on the food days, and on the clothes days, left the session with a new item of clothing. In Condition D, the children chose if they wanted to work toward the production of another music video, receive a full dinner, or an item of clothing. These rewards were not contingent on anything except the children's presence at the end of each session. All music sessions were tape recorded and the tapes were transcribed for later analysis and reliability purposes. For the final choices during the D Condition, two children chose clothing, one chose food, and three chose to make a music video. Children's responses to the social skills were inconsistent, and even with music activities specifically designed to address these skills, none of the groups achieved the first hierarchical levels for empathy or cooperation. Attendance was highly variable even with strong positive contingencies for attending. Implications for clinical practice and client consistency over time with this population are discussed.

Note: Article MJ Staum, Willamette Univ, Salem, OR 97301 USA

Keyword(s): RETARDED-CHILDREN; FAMILIES. music therapy & choice of food vs clothing vs music as reinforcers; empathy & cooperation; homeless 5 10 yr olds in shelters

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