Therapeutic Prison Art Interventions

Sarah Tucker is an experienced prison art therapy facilitator. In seeking to promote rehabilitation, healing, reconciliation and recidivism prevention for offenders and society, Sarah draws on her own experiences of incarceration for background and inspiration. She served four years at Adelaide Women’s Prison from 1996 until 1999. After more than two decades outside of prison and then stepping in as an art teacher, facilitator, prisoner advocate, and briefly as an Indigenous Peoples Chaplain, she is well acquainted with both prison culture and the myriad systemic issues facing institutional incarceration today. From 2017 to 2023, she taught art therapy classes to incarcerated people in the State of Queensland while documenting and publishing her empirical research. Having grown up in poverty and then completing high school while living on the streets, Sarah is accustomed to having to overcome acute struggles, social exclusion and cultural hurdles for herself and others. To survive the experiences that led her to prison and a post-prison life, she immersed herself in outlaw motorcycle club business management and street life, including employing and teaching numerous street youth and fundraising for youth events. Uniquely, it is her extensive life in the arts and as a tattoo artist for 25 years that gives her such broad insight and perspective towards societies forgotten and underground, leading her into interesting and unexplored research territories and topics. Sarah has experience working with various creative therapeutic interventions, including facilitating children’s group therapy art workshops, individual therapy, and trauma-informed creative therapy practices. She has several undergraduate and postgraduate degrees: Bachelor of Visual Arts, University of New England (2001); Graduate Certificate in Applied Neuroscience, Christian Heritage College (2021); Graduate Certificate in Criminology, Griffith University (2022); Master of Social Science Leadership, Christian Heritage College (2024); Associate Degree of Arts Therapy, IKON Institute (2024). To expand on this research, Sarah is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), School of Social Sciences, Arts, Design & Architecture, Sydney, Australia.

Johannes M. Luetz (Professor, BA/USA, MBA/Germany, PhD/Australia) is a senior social scientist based in Brisbane, Australia. He is the Director of Research Development at Alphacrucis University College and serves as the institution’s Chair of Human Research Ethics. He has lived and worked across countries and continents and conducts interdisciplinary humanitarian research at the science-faith, interfaith, and science-policy interface. He has consulted for World Vision, conducting research on disaster preparedness, poverty, and social exclusion, including raising awareness of the growing effects of environmental change on vulnerable communities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. As a social scientist, Johannes has affiliations with the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), where he is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Social Sciences, and with the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC Maroochydore), where he is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Law and Society. He is Deputy Editor of the International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management and serves on the editorial boards of several international academic journals, including Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (nature portfolio). He has more than 100 academic publications to his credit, and his integrative research has led to several authored and edited books. As a book editor of six published Springer Nature books, including major international volumes, encyclopedias and handbooks (plus two additional Springer books currently in progress), Johannes is well-acquainted with academic publishing. He is passionate about social justice, equality, and rehabilitation and has visited prisons in Australia, Latin America, and Europe.