Heroes and Martyrs Against Alienation: Growing up as Puer and Puella in Postmodern Society

Abstract

An innovative art intervention program named Art Works was offered to 47 Latino youths (ages 12-18) who were coping with chemical dependency and/or mental health illness. Art Works provided youth with a creative outlet to use art as a means for self-expression, self-awareness, and community involvement. A Jungian approach to youth development was applied by which youth participants were empowered to become aware of their inner dialogue with and about youth and art was used as a vehicle for inclusion of the youths’ voices. This intervention promoted movement flow into the deeper knowledge and understanding of the archetypes at play, those existing in the colonizer/oppressor (the adult, the Senex) and those existing in the colonized/oppressed (the youth, the puer and puella contemporaneous), as well as into their interplay and resolution. Outcomes were measured by applying multiple methods and instruments: a youth empowerment pre-post test, progress/group notes, personal journals, art products, behavior observations, and the application of random drug tests. The participatory program evaluation engaged youth in continued critical self-reflection. The quantitative and qualitative findings suggest that participants manifested increased self-awareness, improved positive peer associations, and reduced drug abuse as a result of their participation in the program. At the conclusion of the program 64% of the participants tested negative in random drug tests. The youth art products showed a dramatic change in their content, namely, from obsessive drug related representations to colorful, abstract, and futuristic images. The implications for art-based interventions and related youth development are discussed.