Effects of Lyric Analysis and Group Discussion on Values Clarification and Decision Making in Adolescent Delinquents

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a lyric analysis and group discussion vs. other music therapy techniques, on values clarification and decision- making styles of adolescent delinquents. Eighteen middle school students participated in this study. Subjects from both groups completed a pretest to assess values and decision- making styles. One group of 10 persons and another group of 8 were used. Both the lyric analysis group (10 Ss) and the non-lyric analysis group (8 Ss) attended four sessions over a four day period. Each session lasted for thirty minutes. The lyric analysis group analyzed lyrics to four popular songs. The non-lyric analysis group participated in writing, music performance via drumming and brass & winds instruments. Each of the experimental and control group's session focused on values, emotional, impulsive or rational decision making styles. To determine the steps subjects used in arriving at a decision, all sessions were taped and analyzed. At the end of the scheduled sessions, subjects completed a post-test to measure their perceived values and decision making styles. While there were increases in scores on certain levels, no statistically significant differences were found between the groups, as evidenced in test scores. The video analyses showed improvements in both groups, but again no statistically significant difference was found.