Response to: Hunt, Meagan (2005). Action Research and Music Therapy: Group Music Therapy with Young Refugees in a School Community

By Sarah Newberry, Master's student Lesley University. Email: mugmusic@aol.com

I appreciated this article primarily for two aspects of the work, an introduction to Action Research and for discussion of the topic of music therapy work with the refugee population. Both of these topics are not presented in plethora of articles in music therapy research and it was interesting and enjoyable to expand my knowledge on both topics.

Action Research, as this is the first I have heard of it, seems to open up new ways to explore research and set different parameters for our study into the benefits and goals of music therapy. Reframing the way that we look at things can change the perspective enough to gain new insight. One of the most important things in the particular case study was how important the democratic element of the therapy was emphasized and how that related to the goals of the specific population in question. It makes sense to structure the therapy around the needs of the clients and if a more democratic process of therapy empowers the disempowered, it seems like the ideal way to work with this population.

The refugee and displaced population is an important one to consider. It was especially helpful to have a summary of the difficulties (and how it affects the clients to refer to their difficulties as "problems") of the refugee population and the various techniques often used in the work. The incorporation of refugees into the community seems integral for healing and I think exploring the role of the community in the healing process is necessary for common difficulties that refugees experience. Many topics in this article were interesting to explore and I hope to see more research on these issues in the near future.