Running Head: Module 11: Literature Review

Module 11: Literature Review

Caitlin A. Leffingwell
Eastern University

MODULE 11: LITERATURE REVIEW

Module 11: Literature Review

Abstract: Despite being rather new to the academic world, the topic of hope has already acquired
quite the range of definitions and descriptions. Yet in this complex tangle of ideas, all research
seems to agree both that hope powerfully impacts quality of life and that hope is not experienced
to an equal degree by everyone. This imbalance happens for a wide variety of reasons, many of
which involve trauma and abuseparticularly for children. Furthermore, such issues not only
limit healthy hope (the lack of which causes its own host of challenges), but also combine to
make certain youth more at-risk for lower quality of life overall. In light of these challenges,
this study looks into the ways that music instructionan overlooked tool despite its proven
impact on children in generalcan be used as effectively as possible in the process of restoring
hope specifically to at-risk children.
Keywords: trauma, abuse, at-risk youth, hope, education, music

Though longer consideration may reveal ever-increasing layers of complexity, the

concept of hope is generally well understood by all at a basic level. More importantly, its merit
at least when experienced in a healthy manner, perhapsis also largely accepted and desired.
Even reflecting on the number of times one may hear the term in a day, whether in reference to
deep desires or wishful whims, reveals its commonplace nature in the human experience.
Unfortunately, however, countless youth in our modern culture do not experience this uniquely
human phenomenon on a regular basisor, in some cases, even at all. Through injustices
ranging from neglect to abuse, they have been robbed of this powerfully intrinsic experience to
such a degree that its lackcombined with the causes thereofplays a large role in increasing
their risk of negative behaviors and the related consequences. Such at-risk youth are less likely
to experience a quality of life marked by dignity and other reasonable expectations of life,
while many are more likely to die before even reaching mature adulthood (Edmundson, 2007).
However, this dire fate is not necessarily guaranteed. As discussed in detail below,
research declares that youth do indeed have the ability to recover fully from trauma, replace

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negative behaviors with positive ones, experience greater degrees of hope, and ultimately secure
a higher quality of life for themselves. Such possibility comes in many formsmany of which
have yet to be fully understood and actively employed. Yet perhaps one of the most undervalued
and untested approaches toward helping at-risk youth is that of music instruction. Despite
growing data on the powerful ways that musicparticularly through learning to play an
instrumentimpacts people of all ages and at all risk levels, this strategy has yet to be
adequately explored for its specific ability to help at-risk youth develop habits of hope and the
corresponding improvements in quality of life.
Due to this problem, the purpose of this study is to better understand how communities
can employ music instruction as an effective tool for helping youth lower their risk for negative
behaviors and outcomes through increased hope. To do so, we observed specifically how at-risk
students from a violin program at Hartfords lowest performing school exhibited elements of
hope when give music beyond their current skill level. After recording responses both during
actual lessons and through interviews afterwards, we were able to analyze noticeable elements of
hope through an assessment tool that Buildabridge International designed to evaluate
manifestations of both will-power and way-power. We then approached this data in light of
existing research on hope, at-risk youth, and the impact of music programsall of which guided
us toward an understanding of _____(findings)_____.
Hope
Until the mid-20th century, hope was considered both tainted and devoid of value to the
point that very little literature exists on the topic in years prior (Webb, 2007). Different fields
maintained this silence for various reasons, such as environmentalists fearing its negative impact
on motivation for social change (Lueck, 2007) and social sciences simply trying to avoid topics
connected to religion (Webb, 2007). Yet through increased awareness of this knowledge gap and

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a growing focus on emotions, this silence has since been replaced by a cacophony of different
voices speaking to the many perspectives that comprise this multifaceted subject (Webb, 2007).
At this point in the literature, hope is variously designated an emotion, a cognitive process, an
existential stance, a state of being, a disposition, a state of mind, an emotion which resembles a
state of mind, an instinct, impulse or intuition, a subliminal sense, a formed habit, a
sociohormone, some complex, multifaceted affective-cognitive-behavioural phenomenon, or,
quite simply, a mystery (Webb, 2007, p.67). In fact, most attempts to solve this mystery have
only revealed its relentless complexity in greater detail. Some studies refer to hope as an
emotional phenomenon (Abrams & Keren, 2007), while a growing number highlight its
cognitive components; one of the most well-written scholars on hope and positive psychology,
Charles Snyder, considers it to be a cognitive process informed by the emotionscentered on
goals but dictated by the pathways and agency with which we attempt to achieve them (1995,
2002). Along these lines, Snyder (2002) consequently joins the ranks of other researchers and
philosophers like the great educator Freire (Webb, 2010; McGreer, 2004) who take an
ontological view of hope by seeing it as a socially constructed skill that can be taught or,
conversely, underdevelopedall of which oppose a biological view of hope or the combination
thereof (Webb, 2007). Similarly, researchers have battled to determine a whole gamut of other
dichotomies related to hope: how it differs from both utopia (Anerson, 2002; Anderson, 2010)
and optimism (Webb, 2007), is both caring and careful (McGreer, 2004), balances patience and
action (Andrews, 2010; Webb, 2010), relies neither too much nor too little on outside resources
(McGreer, 2004; Pettit, 2004), remains both optimistic and pessimistic (Braithwaite, 2004), and
neither ignores nor crumbles under challenges (McGreer, 2004; Lueck, 2007). To make matters
worse, confusion abounds even more when trying to figure out what hope is not. For example,

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McGreer (2004) labels false hope as the times when desire leads to an inaccurate assessment
of probable success, while Snyder (2002) actually decries the very idea at allclaiming that
high-hopers are actually more likely to achieve (and even intentionally set) inordinately high
goals due to the exhilaration they gain from challenges and the fact that all goals (even harmful
ones) meet the stipulations of healthy hope.
However, in the midst of all this seemingly discordant chaos, two common themes
provided some sanity during our quest for understanding hope in a practical way. First, all
literature agreed that hope is an important part of the human existenceboth crucial for
enhancing the quality of our lives (Snyder, 2002, p.268) and an essential and distinctive feature
of human agency (McGreer, 2004, p.102). Moreover, it not only bears importance for
individuals, but for humanity as a whole (Braithwaite, 2004) through phenomena such as
institutional hope (Abrams & Keren, 2007), collective hope (McGreer, 2004), and the social
change that results from cyclical community hope (Lueck, 2007). Second, research consistently
revealed that not everyone experiences hope to the same degree. Regardless of the exact form it
takes or whether it arises intrinsically or socially, hope of any kind seemingly appears to stronger
and healthier degrees in some people rather than others (Webb, 2007; Abrams & Keren, 2007).
According to Snyder (2002), such High-hope persons consistently fare better than their lowhope counterparts in the arenas of academics, athletics, physical health, psychological
adjustment, and psychotherapy, while experiencing less hope tends to create a downward spiral
of negativity that leads to helplessness, lethargy, stress, and frequent failure at creating or
achieving life goals (p.258). While the exact reasons for this disparity are as uncertain as the
commodity itself, Snyder used his Hope Theory scales to determine that common correlations
include abuse, trauma, and loss of loved ones (2002). Considering that more than 650,000

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children are victims of just abuse or neglect each year in the United States (Child Maltreatment),
these factors carry significant weight.
At-risk youth
Sadly, the implications of these injustices go far beyond the loss of hope, as abundant
research studies have shown through trying to grasp the negative effects of abuse and trauma on
children. The 2013 report by Childrens Bureau, for instance, delves into the interconnected
nature of the four different types of impacts through this short introduction:
In realityit is impossible to separate the types of impacts. Physical consequences, such
as damage to a childs growing brain, can have psychological implications, such as
cognitive delays or emotional difficulties. Psychological problems often manifest as highrisk behaviors. Depression and anxiety, for example, may make a person more likely to
smoke, abuse alcohol or drugs, or overeat. High-risk behaviors, in turn, can lead to longterm physical health problems, such as sexually transmitted diseases, cancer, and obesity.
Not all children who have been abused or neglected will experience long-term
consequences, but they may have an increased susceptibility. (Long-Term Consequences,
p.2-3)
This increased susceptibility, or at-risk nature, is marked by not only a diminished capacity for
hope, but also a lack of both the ability and the desire to learnadding a layer of educational
challenge to this already distressing mess of injustice (Shuler, 1991). Moreover, these impacts
can combine to create lasting implications on the youth as well as their families, communities,
and society as a whole. Is it any wonder that hopelessness both stems from and contributes to the
challenges faced by at-risk youth?

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Nonetheless, potential remedies remain. While Snyder (2002) suggests targeting at-risk
low-hope youth with intervention programs, Abrams and Keren (2007) speak to the various ways
that hope can be cultivated through both individuals and institutionseven through the law. In
fact, many researchers argue that those who are not experiencing despair have a social
responsibility to help those who are (McGreer, 2004) by communicating recognition and vision;
introducing an activity that allows for individuation; providing resources; supporting agency; and
fostering solidarity (Abrams & Keren, 2007, p.363). Such action is motivated by the knowledge
that healthy hope enables the subject to escape the grip of beliefs that are so bleak or so unstable
that they reduce a subject to a helpless status. It provides the agent with direction and control and
makes success in the face of adversity much more probable that it would otherwise have been.
And it does this, moreover, without forcing the subject into any sort of self-deception (Pettit,
2004, p. 165). With these loftyor even, one may say, hopefulgoals in mind, we find
ourselves seeking effective ways of helping at-risk youth develop hope to a degree that can begin
counteracting the negative experiences that threaten their quality of life.
Music Education
Though still employed to a much smaller degree than its power merits, perhaps one of the
most promising remedies for this situation is music. Interestingly, just as Braithwaite (2004) calls
the use of hope interventions a preventative medicine for societal ills, so Shuler (1991) uses
the same exact term for music educationspecifically as it applies to at-risk youth. Certainly the
universal benefits of learning music have begun entering general knowledge, with books like
Eric Jensens Arts with the Brain in Mind (2001) or Daniel Levitins This is Your Brain on Music
(2006) discussing the stunning plethora of ways that music can lead to emotional, mental,
physical, and even spiritual improvements. When Howard Gardner (2011) proposed the

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revolutionary Theory of Multiple Intelligences, he even included music as one of the ways that
students naturally learnan affirmation for music programs that have long avowed the whole
language nature of music and its ability to match many different learning styles (Shuler, 1991).
However, access to music education and its many inherent benefits has long been limited to
students in social classes that provide the right financial resources, cultural practices, and social
networksoften those who are not nearly as at-risk for the many factors that lower quality of
life (Bates, 2012).
Because students from low socioeconomic backgrounds often do not have such access,
very little research has been done specifically on the benefits of music education for at-risk
youth. Nevertheless, existing research does show a promising fit between the benefits of music
instruction and the specific needs of at-risk youth. Simply listening to music allows us to
experience a moment of utopialife envisioned and possibility tastedin a way that begins to
foster hope in the listener (Anderson, 2002); similarly, teaching it operates from a strengthsbasedrather than stigma-basedmentality that works from students strengths rather than
trying to fix their weaknesses (Braithwaite, 2004; Snyder, 2002). In particular, composition
offers students a level of self-expression that many at-risk youth crave, while the unique and
appealing nature of music in general helps to address academic risks by increasing students
ability and desire to learn. In ways like these, music can not only help students develop
important skills, but can also help them avoid the problems of frustration, alienation, and selfdoubt that often place students at risk of failure (Shuler, 1991, p.28). This strategy ultimately
helps students to develop various elements of hope and therefore reap the many empowering
benefits that accompany themrestoring their chances for a quality of life that had previously
been stolen by injustice.

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Conclusion
In light of the challenges facing at-risk youth and the role that music can play in
increasing their quality of life through active hope, this study attempts to begin filling the
research gap where music, hope, and at-risk youth unite. Though hope is a multifaceted concept
almost as complicated as the challenges that at-risk youth face, we will conduct our research
based on the Buildabridge components described in Appendix A, which we believe to align well
with current literature regarding this topic. By observing at-risk musicians tackling musical
pieces beyond their current skill level, we will observe how they demonstrate the way-power and
will-power elements of hope. These students face an overwhelming myriad of inordinate
challenges on a daily basis, often without the support, privilege, or advantages had by their peers
in higher socioeconomic backgrounds. Every possible tool must be employed to correct this
imbalance, yet perhaps one of our most effective toolsmusic instruction and the relationships
and skills that accompany ithas yet to be adequately explored, never mind employed,
specifically in the service of at-risk youth. This study calls attention to this valuable resource and
begins to explore these specific benefits by answering this research question: How do at-risk
violin students demonstrate elements of hope when approaching musical pieces beyond
their current skill level?

Students poem: Hope is the essence that keeps you looking forward to life. Some people hope
for money. Some hope for life's basic necessities. But hope no one can buy, sell or take away
from you. Hope makes the person what she is. With hope comes perseverance, then character,
then the joy of self esteem. Hope is your inner fire. It is the determination that keeps you going
and not give up. With one spark, the hope you share can give others. (Brady, 1995, p.48)

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