Music, positive youth development, and homelessness: Interview with Brian Kelly, Ph.D.

[Episode 92] Today's episode of the Social Work Podcast looks at an innovative approach to developing strengths and resilience in youth experiencing homelessness - a music studio housed within an agency. 

In today�s interview, I speak with Brian Kelly, Ph.D., assistant professor at Loyola University Chicago. Brian briefly describes factors that put youth at risk for homelessness and the three levels of services provided to homeless youth. We end with Brian playing some clips from the audio documentary, and discussing how the music provides insight into the youths' lives.    

Download MP3 [39:46]



Bio


Brian L. Kelly, Ph.D.
Loyola University Chicago
School of Social Work
Title/s: Assistant Professor
Office #: Lewis Tower 1247
Phone: 312.915.7479
E-mail: bkelly6@luc.edu

Transcript

Introduction
Hey there podcast listener. You ready to play a game? It�s called �word association.� Freud loved it. He sort of built a whole psychotherapy off of it. If you don't know what it is, here's how you play it:  I say a word, and you say the first thing that comes to mind. Yeah, just shout it out in your car, at the gym, on the bus, at the library, in class. It will be a good time. (Freud thought so). Alright. Here we go.
  • Recording studio
  • Composer
  • Lyricist
  • Musician
  • Documentary

Here�s what popped to my mind (and yes, I really did this exercise):

  • Recording studio : Success
  • Composer : Beethoven 
  • Lyricist : Stephen Sondheim 
  • Musician : Creative
  • Documentary : Ken Burns

When I think about Beethoven, Sondheim, Burns, I think of them as creative and successful. These are high status associations. What I didn�t associate with these words, was the words �homeless youth.� Well, today�s episode of the social work podcast is all about homeless youth who are composers, lyricists, musicians, whose work in a recording studio was the subject of a documentary.

My guest is Brian Kelly, assistant professor of social work at Loyola University Chicago. Brian�s insights into the intersection of all of these ideas are drawn from his doctoral dissertation, �Superman in the smallest space: Exploring a music studio for young people experiencing homelessness.� The link to the dissertation is on the website. In today�s interview, Brian briefly describes factors that put youth at risk for homelessness, the three levels of services provided to homeless youth, and an innovative way of helping homeless, or housing insecure, youth develop skills and resources that might protect against future homelessness � a music studio housed within an agency. As part of his dissertation, Brian and the youth created an audio documentary. Brian first told me about his dissertation and the audio documentary about a year before we did this interview in November 2013. As he described the audio documentary I thought, �podcast. I gotta get this guy on the podcast, if for no other reason than to hear what these youth were able to create.� Apparently my colleagues from University at Buffalo�s InSocialWork podcast series felt the same way. You can hear Brian talking more in depth about his research questions, methodology and results in their episode 136. The link is on the podcast website. Now, the best part of this interview is that Brian shares with us some clips from the  audio documentary.

And now, without further ado, on to episode 92 of the social work podcast, Music, positive youth development, and homelessness: Interview with Brian Kelly, Ph.D.

Interview
(forthcoming)

References and Resources

  • Episode 136 - Dr. Brian Kelly: Superman in the Smallest Place: Exploring a Music Studio for Young People Experiencing Homelessness. (2014, February 3). inSocialWork� Podcast Series. [Audio Podcast] Retrieved from http://www.insocialwork.org/episode.asp?ep=136
  • Kelly, B. L. (2013) Superman in the smallest space: Exploring a music studio for young people experiencing homelessness. [Dissertation]. Retrieved from http://indigo.uic.edu/bitstream/handle/10027/10220/Kelly_Brian.pdf?sequence=1


APA (6th ed) citation for this podcast:

Singer, J. B. (Producer). (2014, September 22). #92 - Music, positive youth development, and homelessness: Interview with Brian Kelly, Ph.D. [Audio Podcast]. Social Work Podcast. Retrieved from http://www.socialworkpodcast.com/2014/09/brian-kelly.html

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