© Oxford University Press and Community Development Journal.

2018
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doi:10.1093/cdj/bsy021

Community music therapy as

participatory practice in a child
welfare setting – a Norwegian
case study
Viggo Krüger*

Abstract In this article, I will focus upon a case narrative described as ‘Trine’, and
her participation in a community group called Come Closer. I relate the
discussion within a broader context of Community work and
Community music therapy. The article combines vignettes taken from
music therapy practice and various theoretical views. I argue that music
has a potential as a force for social change and spans an unlimited num-
ber of combinations. Music can function as a practice that involves the
activity of personal reflection processes and music can function as a
sociopolitical force, able to change social realities and alter power rela-
tions. In sum, the article concludes that three strategies which might be
appropriate for further investigation and implementation regarding
music as resource in child welfare work. First, there is the need for an
individual strategy. The individual strategy includes person-oriented
activities such as conversation, song writing, and the use of music tech-
nology. Second, there is the need for a community-oriented strategy
wherein activities such as playing in a band or song writing comes into
focus. Third, there is a need for a strategy which implies working with
networks, social environments, and power relations. The third strategy
is very closed related to ideals taken from a traditional community
work perspective, whereas ideas such as Arnsteins ladder of participa-
tion is prominent.

*Address for correspondence: Viggo Krüger, Bergen University – The Grieg Academy, Midtunhaugen 151,
5224 Nesttun, Norway; email: Viggo.Kruger@uib.no

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How can anybody else like me when I don’t even like myself?

When nothing goes my way and everything turns grey?

I need some kind of push to get me out of here

(Excerpt taken from the song ‘Is there somebody there for me’? by Trine)

Introduction
The above lyric is borrowed from a song written by ‘Trine’. Through the
song, written in a music workshop called ‘Come Closer’ (described later in
this article). Trine expressed thoughts and feelings related to sorrow and
low self-esteem. The song was performed in front of a live audience –
peers, family, and friends. The performance gave Trine a possibility to
communicate to her social environment a message about her loss and suf-
fering. Trine’s participation in Come Closer can be seen as examples of
what is labelled as community music therapy and community work.
Community work can be described as a meta-theoretical perspective on
how young person’s participation can be developed, supported, and evalu-
ated within the modern welfare state (Sudmann and Henriksbø, 2011). On
the other hand, community music therapy is a perspective within the field
of music therapy that is ecological in a Bronfenbrenner way, and seeks to
find ways of using music as force for the promotion of health and partici-
pation (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Stige and Aarø, 2012). In the perspective of
community music therapy, music is more than a stimulus to which humans
react, or a vehicle for action and interaction; it is a multidimensional and
continuously changing milieu where an aggregate of biological, psycho-
logical, and sociocultural processes interact (Stige and Aarø, 2012, s 138).
Trine’s story is also relevant as seen from a human rights perspective.
Previously, I have highlighted the importance of music as a tool and
medium for increasing the awareness of the rights of children, especially
regarding those with disabilities as outlined in the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of Children (UNCRC) (Hart, 1992; Percy Smith,
and Thomas, 2009; Krüger, 2012). The UNCRC can be considered a useful
and guiding Document both as a means for developing music therapy
practices as well as developing music therapy theory regarding children
and young people (Krüger and Stige, 2014). In my doctoral thesis, a quali-
tative study consisting of interviews with young people living under insti-
tutional care, arguments related to how and why music can be important
in child welfare practices were constructed (Krüger, 2012). Based on a
qualitative analysis of interviews with fifteen young people, different
themes were explored. A main theme was that music may be viewed as a

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medium for the promotion of participatory practices (Krüger and Stige,

2016). Findings illustrate in various ways how music may be used to help
young people to mobilize resources for action, cope with everyday living
and to gain an own voice in a community. In my thesis, the concept of
community work was not part of the discussion. Taking the above men-
tioned into consideration, I ask the following question; What implications
does the approach of the theatre group Come Closer have for the multidis-
ciplinary perspective called Community Work within Norwegian child
welfare practice?

In search of reflexivity
The author of this article has functioned as one of the facilitators of Come
Closer. His role has been related to fundraising, planning, and evaluation.
Because of the several roles of the author, a degree of reflexivity is needed.
One place to start examining reflexivity, is to make clear for the reader my
background both as a musician and as a music therapist. Since I was a
teenager I have played in various rock bands. I have experienced both joy
and suffering, and not the least, valuable learning experiences. As an adult
professional music therapist working in the field of child welfare, I find
myself using experiences from my own past in order to help others and to
facilitate participatory practices. As an adult, I work as a music therapist,
mainly in the field of child welfare. As an academic field and profession,
music therapy was developed in the United States after the Second World
War (Stige et al., 2010). A main reason for this development was the suc-
cessful treatment of trauma-related symptoms suffered by war veterans,
through the use of music. Over the past few decades, music therapy has
been developed towards being a broad interdisciplinary field, in which
many ways of defining and understanding the roles, relationships, and
rituals that characterize practices are found (Bruscia, 1998; Bunt and Stige,
2014). As seen in conventional music therapy perspective, music therapists
address the needs of their clients and the situations in which they find
themselves by providing a safe therapist–client relationship, where thera-
peutic goals may be achieved (Rolvsjord, 2007). Very often the promotion
of health and well-being is the main goal for the music therapy process
(Elefant et al., 2013).
Norway is widely recognized as an important country for music therapy
research. Its two major research centres are the Centre for Music and Health
located in the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, and the Grieg
Academy Centre for Music Therapy (GAMUT), at the University of Bergen. In
Norway, a relatively new discourse labelled ‘Community music therapy’

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has gradually evolved. The perspective has developed as a human rights

based approach in which the music therapist is working musically with
people in context: acknowledging the social and cultural factors of their
health, illness, relationships, and music (Stige and Aarø, 2012). In commu-
nity music therapy, it is important to find ways of working together with
other professionals through interdisciplinary collaboration (Stige and Aarø,
2012). This implies being able to work together with community workers,
community musicians as well as professions such as teachers, nurses, or
psychologists. What kind of music practice one sought for, is found in close
collaboration with the users, the local community and relevant persons
involved. Available resources are mapped, evaluated, and used.
A second influence on my reflexivity are child welfare oriented theories.
From an international perspective, the challenges in the child welfare sys-
tem are increasing, and there is a need for sufficient solutions (Kristofersen,
2005; Kayed et al., 2015). Especially, there are severe difficulties linked to
the use of child welfare services such as foster care and institutions (Backe-
Hansen et al. 2014). In Norway, Clausen and Kristofersen (2008), for
example, have shown that individuals who have been living in an institu-
tion have worse life conditions than those living in home with biological
parents. The situation of young people under welfare care is not suffi-
ciently aligned with the rights and values of the UNCRC (United Nations,
20). According to the CRC, children and young people have several rights,
including rights concerning participation, which include the right to take
part in everyday activities as well as the right to be heard concerning
important decisions (Krüger and Stige, 2014). Different views of participa-
tion may be seen as mutually constitutive and music may be regarded as
giving structure to a complex set of participatory practices, including
aspects related both to community, health, well-being and values related to
democracy (Krüger, Strandbu, Stige, 2014).
Regarding child welfare solutions, findings show that music therapy can
be an important resource in the way children and young people organize
and better understand their everyday life situations (Hargreaves and
North, 1999; Juslin and Sloboda, 2001; Juslin and Laukka, 2004; Laiho,
2004). Music can also be used to create personal reflection and engage in
individual self-care (Rolvsjord, 2007; Saarikallio and Erkkila, 2007). The use
of music provides activities for working with identity and narratives
(Ruud, 1997). As such, music may be seen in relation to treatment of anx-
iety or depression (Sutton, 2002). A main ingredient in trauma-related
treatment is facilitating storytelling, where the participant may be able to
make meaning of lived incidents such as experiences from war or violence
(Krüger, 2012). Music may also facilitate help and support from adults and
peer’s (Krüger and Strandbu, 2015). Moreover, music therapy gives

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opportunities to establish meeting places where young people experience

that their skills and knowledge may be used in new communities of prac-
tice, such as school or work (McFerran, 2010). Playing music and writing
lyrics together offers the young participants the opportunity to see them-
selves and their actions in light of people’s feedback. Finally, music therapy
makes it possible to establish meeting places where music can be used as a
resource to challenge established positions of power (Krüger, 2012). Letting
young people speak through music and music performances, provides
structure to and affords acceptable protest actions, such as giving the mes-
sage of an alternative child welfare identity (Krüger, Strandbu, Stige, 2014).

Profile of the come closer theatre group

I will now return to the musical theatre group Come Closer. Previously I
have discussed Come Closer in relation to Boals Theatre of the oppressed
(Boal, 1985; Strandbu, Krüger and Lorentzen (2016)).
Come Closer offers activities such as musical instrument instruction,
song writing classes, rock band instruction, and the opportunity to perform
in concerts. Participation may lead to the development of various social
roles and social identities. As an example, participants in Come Closer are
provided with a stage and thus their voice can be heard in ways that
enable their social identities to be negotiated and changed. Through partici-
pation in the workshop, acceptable protest actions, such as creating an
alternative child welfare identity, can be achieved. This is important,
because the identity of ‘a child welfare user’ is closely related to processes
of stigmatization and marginalization in Norway (Backe-Hansen et al.
2014). As seen from an organizational point of view, Come Closer is
funded by Bergen municipality and several private parties, including The
Grieg Foundation and Aleris Ungplan & BOI. The organization has its own
board, consisting of both previous users and adult social workers. Since it
was formed in 2002 Come Closer has staged a number of performances,
released CDs and toured in Norway. The message from the group has
been communicated to politicians, people in charge of welfare institutions,
teachers, health care workers as well as family and friends.
The activities Come Closer facilitate may be understood as what
Bronfenbrenner called molar activities. A molar activity is: an ongoing activ-
ity…perceived as having meaning or intent by the participants in the setting
(Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 45). Learning to play music is an example of
molar activity. Learning music or writing lyrics can be seen as a ongoing
activity, which has personal meaning for the learner, and may grow
increasingly more complex in nature. Through the development of working

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phases, the participants may experience entering new roles as musicians,

singers, song-writers, or performers. The new roles give possibilities for
learning and the development of self-understanding. Music’s role in the
process is complex; it can be used for a variety of purposes where the use
may change in relation to contextual factors. The persons involved may
use their experiences taken from the music workshop in new settings, such
as school or work. In this way, several levels of what Bronfenbrenner
labelled an ecological system are involved and activated (Bronfenbrenner,
1979).

Planning phase
This phase is about recruiting members who are interested in participation.
Come Closer arrange meetings every second Sunday of the month, and
may thus be regarded a leisure activity. For many of the participants,
Sundays are a beneficial day of the week because they report ‘having little
to do that particular day’. There are several ways of being a member.
Firstly, members are recruited via child welfare services who want to pre-
sent Come Closer for their users. The instructors working for Come Closer
are available for telephone contact and appointments are made on behalf
of potential users. Second, recruitment is also possible through friends and
peers. Members of Come Closer have the possibility to invite people to
join. This phase is also about identifying individual needs in the quest for
practical solutions. Some individuals will feel insecure and not motivated
for meeting the whole group. If so, individual sessions are arranged in
order to prepare the participant for further group process. Sometimes there
is not enough motivation for joining the group and individual sessions are
chosen as further alternative. In order to plan in collaboration with the
young people and the child welfare services, collaboration meetings are
organized in order to find solutions and make decisions. Among those
involved are representatives of young people, instructors, and students. It
is also appropriate to invite people from school and social work institu-
tions. In the planning phase, participants are prepared so that they can join
Come Closer as long as they want, and they can quit when they want, par-
ticipants who have joined for more that two to three years, are asked to
take on more responsibility regarding activities for the new-comers.

Preparation phase
The preparation phase is about getting to know the young people. Most of
the activities are so called ‘low-threshold’ activities. It is possible for the
young people to join without knowledge or skills in, for example, playing
the guitar or singing. This phase includes activities such as ‘get acquainted
activities’, ‘presentation rounds’, ‘music café’ or tours. It is also a phase

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where trips to concerts in the community are arranged. At this stage, the
young peoples’ interests and goals become known. The participants are
able to understand how the music workshop works, and in which ways
they can influence the activities. Participants are encouraged to make sug-
gestions for the activities. Throughout this phase, relationships and trust
amongst participants are developed. Potential conflicts among members
and personal interests are included in further planning, as well as individ-
ual adaptations and adjustments.

Working phase
During this phase, active efforts are made in order to meet the needs dis-
covered in the previous phase. The phase includes activities such as music
rehearsal, song writing, recording, and performance. Participants collabor-
ate with music therapists in order to find artistic expressions in which they
can convey their ideas. Central to this stage is the facilitation of the individ-
ual, so that he or she can cope with the activities in a group. An example of
this would be to play a 4/4 beat on the drums or to learn ‘one finger’ gui-
tar chords. Another example might be to write lyrics or record music using
music technology. Each participant is invited to find ways to work that
suits his or her need of expression or artistic ambition. Some people want
to be a singer, and thus use the facilities of Come Closer in order to learn
to sing and perform, others want to write drama or songs. It is also pos-
sible to combine singing, playing and composing.

Realization phase
This phase is about involving the local community and society at large.
The phase facilitates the performance of songs, texts, or recordings. The
phase depends on an active audience that may provide feedback on what
is written, rehearsed, or recorded. Music, text, drama used to convey stor-
ies are listened to by an audience consisting of peers, relatives, and profes-
sionals who work in schools and within the fields of child care, as well as
others who might be of significance for the young people.

The evaluation phase

Central to the evaluation phase is feedback from the audience and the par-
ticipants themselves as a basis to adjust and adapt to new practices. It is
crucial that the young people’s voices are heard in terms of changing prac-
tices. Evaluation may be conducted as focus groups and/or as individual
interviews (Krüger and Strandbu, 2015, pp. 93–94). Messages from the
members of Come Closer may be reported to the local media through inter-
views or as written essays.

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Trine’s story
I have known Trine for four years. Through these years Trine has learned
how to use aspects of her own life story in order to express feelings and
thoughts, join the peer community and to communicate important mes-
sages to an audience of significant adults, such as social workers, family
members, and teachers. During this time Trine learned how to play instru-
ments, she learned how to use music technology such as recording equip-
ment, and she developed skills in song writing and performing. Through
these years Trine went from being a quiet child living in a child protection
institution, to become confident in performing her own views and attitudes
in front of others.

Introductory sessions
Trine was recruited to Come Closer through the child welfare services who
wanted to help her gain a positive and meaningful leisure activity in a
community with others. At first, Trine joined several individual sessions
where she worked with the music therapist in order to gain motivation
and confidence to meet the community of Come Closer. In the beginning
Trine was insecure and stated many times that she really did not want to
participate. She would say things like; ‘I can’t sing, and I have no belief in
myself’, or, ‘I’m so afraid of doing anything in front of others’. Despite
Trine’s lack of self-esteem, after a while, she was collaborating with the
music therapist in order to decide how many individual sessions she
needed and when she wanted to join the community. She was also pre-
sented with the option of not joining the community. The music therapist
was her collaborator and facilitator in helping her decide if and when she
wanted to participate. In the preliminary phases, Trine was given several
options on how to participate, and what was needed from her in order to
participate in the group. She received instructions on music instruments as
well as singing lessons. Trine gradually increased her belief in expressing
herself through music and conversation.

Playing with the group

After two months, Trine took the step towards meeting the Come Closer
group. She participated in meetings and rehearsals where she met peers
who had experienced what she had experienced; loss and lack of dialogue
with adults. The meetings with Come Closer became important for her
because she could take control over parts of her life that she previously
had been unable to deal with. As an example, knowing how the other par-
ticipants felt about the child welfare system, she could express what was

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wrong with her own situation and she could thus mobilize resources in
order to have a better life situation.
At the time when the lyric referred to in the introduction was written,
Trine felt confident in using musical instruments, and she liked to perform
with the others who at that time had become her friends. Through partici-
pation in music making processes, Trine gradually developed confidence
in the art of storytelling and the construction of important collective stories.
Through song writing, Trine found a language for her experiences,
thoughts, and feelings in a community. ‘It’s like someone is lifting a stone
from my heart’, she once spoke. After a while she became able to tell stor-
ies about her life she otherwise did not feel very confident about, for
example, being labelled as a child of the welfare system, or being called a
troubled child at school. Through various music activities, Trine found
ways to communicate her experiences to an audience. Trine’s music hence
became a tool for managing potential difficulties in her life situation.
Through demonstrating her abilities and capabilities in music, Trine could
stand up for what was especially challenging; being a troubled young per-
son living under difficult conditions. Music enabled Trine to use her skills
as a musician and songwriter to tell a different story about being alone and
having low self-esteem. In collaboration with members of Come Closer,
Trine wrote a song called Moving. This particular song became a tag for
naming what was challenging in her life, namely, the fact that she had
been forced to move around as a child. By the age of 16, she had already
moved eleven times as a consequence of her situation in the care of the
child welfare system. In the song, she tells a story that informs the listeners
of the difficulties of moving around from place to place, never to be given
the opportunity to settle down and find peace for herself and her needs.
The following lyrics are an excerpt from the song.
Where do I go?

Where am I coming from?

How long shall I stay?

I’ll stay a while

Then I must go
That is why I always keep my jacket on.

Because family members, social workers, and teachers from school were
invited as members of the audience when the song was performed, import-
ant people in Trine’s life could take part in her storytelling. As the audience
for Trine’s story, the people closest to her could give her recognition for
her performance. The performance became a way for Trine to show an

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alternative identity to her well-established identity as a ‘child welfare user’.

Through her music she could stand out as someone worth listening to,
someone with a voice and a story to tell.

Outcome
At one point, Trine decided that she wanted to leave the Come Closer com-
munity. She left the community at the age of 20, but returned as a visitor
several times. She also volunteered as an assistant at some events Come
Closer organized. In conversations afterwards, she referred to Come Closer
as a stable factor in her life in times of turmoil and frustration. She told me
things like: ‘Come Closer has become my family’ or ‘Without them I
wouldn’t have been where I am today’. She explained Come Closer as a
community where she could meet peers with more or less the same experi-
ences as herself. She also reported that joining the Come Closer group gave
her experiences of being an important figure for other people. This experi-
ence was important for her because she felt that the child welfare system
had taken such aspects away from her. Being under care of the child wel-
fare system had labelled her as a burden on society. The experience of
being important and useful for others helped her mobilize resources in
relation to school and work. As an example, Trine expressed on one occa-
sion that having performed in front of audiences in a Come Closer setting,
helped her gain strength and motivation for coping in the setting of a
stressful job interview; ‘When I talked with the job interviewer, I got very
scared, but after a while, I remembered how it was to sing on stage, and I
got calmer, I started to believe in myself’.

Performing music and the concept of boundary learning

A key feature of the situations described above in the case story can be
described as a form of boundary meeting. A boundary meeting can in this
sense appear between the therapist and the young person, and between
the music workshop and home/community. These boundaries afford pos-
sibilities for Trine to participate in a group where she can organize and
process her thoughts and feelings. Music then, can be understood as also
tool for getting help and support from adults and peers. Moreover, as a
social tool, music gave Trine opportunities to challenge established posi-
tions of power, namely, the dominant position of adults in the child wel-
fare system. Rule (2004) calls boundary meetings ‘a dialogic space’. The
dialogical space is as a zone of engagement, underpinned by values of
trust, openness, and responsibility. By engaging in the dialogical space, the
participant is enabled in dialogues at both an interpersonal and

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intrapersonal level. The notion of the boundary is also a key to understand-

ing Bakhtin’s ideas about dialogue (Bakhtin, 1981). For Bakhtin, the bound-
ary is between the self and the other, and function as a venue for
engagement and conflict. The boundary is not permanent, but is rather a
shifting threshold of communication and relation building. By elaborating
the boundary, participants may learn each other’s words as they widen
their respective understandings; ‘the process of selecting and assimilating
the words of others’ (Bakhtin, 1981, p. 341).
We can use this understanding to look at how Trine used music in order
to transform and interact with her social environment. For Trine music and
lyrics became tools she could use in order to participate in a dialogical
space. Through musical participation she could engage in and influence
power relations and intrapersonal relations. Such a view leaves therapy as
a form of political action, which echoes Freire’s idea that therapy or educa-
tion can never be neutral (Freire, 1995). For Freire, a goal is to overcome
inequality. In order to overcome inequality, the therapist should use stories
and songs that the participant knows, for example, from a home setting.
Because the music workshop was close the Trines home and because she
could use her own story as a part of therapy, it could be argued that the
dialogical space was established based on equality. A relationship based
on equality led to the development of ways to articulate an identity as
someone else as a problem with a conflicting life situation.
The use of music provided her with a continuity of autobiographical
stories including narratives about places, people, and events (Ruud, 1997).
As such, music gave structure to help and support situations from adults
and peer relations. Moreover, by giving Trine a voice to be heard through
her music, acceptable protest actions, such as creating an alternative child
welfare identity could be attained (Baines, 2013). Being able to be heard
also helped her mobilizing a set of resources needed in order to cope with
everyday life and to manage potential difficult transitions towards inde-
pendence and adulthood. The role she was giving as a resource person,
able to help others, contributed in that very process. As such, her identity
as a child welfare user was negotiated in the community towards an iden-
tity as someone useful and helpful for others.

Community work or community music therapy?

If we look at Trine’s story in relation to community work and community
music therapy, we find some interesting similarities and differences.
Community music therapy aligns with the idea of community work in
many ways. In a broader sense, community work can be described as an

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approach occupied with the idea of building structures for participatory

action (Cornwall, 2000; Cornwall and Coelho, 2006; Shaw, 2014).
Community work traditionally takes a critical approach to the analysis of
social inequality, social change, and inclusive research (Sudmann and
Folkestad, 2015). As such, community work may represent a perspective
on de-stabilization in order to create new possibilities for participation and
self-presentation (Cornwall, 2000). Central to the movement is Arnstein’s
(1969) ladder of participation. Arnstein originally developed her ideas in
the late 1960s, and still retains considerable contemporary relevance, for
example, in relation to child welfare practice. On the top step of the ladder
we find ‘Citizen control’, and on the lower steps we find a category called
‘non-participation’. Interestingly, in context of the theme for this article
which is music therapy, Arnstein places the concept of therapy alongside
with manipulation. So, how could music therapy be seen as an activity,
representing the higher steps on the ladder of participation?
In order to answer such a question, we have to look deep into human
history. Music is a profound part of every society and can be traced back
to the earliest civilizations (Horden, 2000). Music is described as a thera-
peutic medium in Christian, as well as Islamic texts. One example is the
famous story from the Hebrew bible, where David plays the harp for Saul
who is suffering from depression. In ancient Greece, many philosophers
were occupied with the idea of music’s healing and educational powers.
For Aristoteles, music, and especially the Dorian scale, were suitable for
the upbringing of young men (Aristotles/Jowett, 1999). In medieval times,
music is mentioned a number of times in relation to medicine and treat-
ment. Robert Burton (1621/2001) relates music to treatment of mental ill-
ness and John Stuart Mill (1806–1873), wrote that music helped him during
times of depression after experiences of loss and neglect in childhood (Mill,
2014).
In modern times community music therapy may be described as a non-
medical tradition of music therapy, focusing on health promotion and
social change in and through musical participation (Stige and Aarø, 2012).
The approach involves an awareness of the system the music therapists are
working within, a view that imply that music therapy is not only directed
towards the individual, but often aimed at changing the system that is
sometimes part of the situation of the client (Ansdell, 2002). As such, com-
munity music therapy offers a contextual approach for working with indi-
viduals and institutions, and in relation to different levels of analyses
(Stige and Aarø, 2012). One basic idea is that resources for change can be
mobilized in and through communities of practice, such as in the case with
a rock band or a choir. In the case of Trine for example, music therapy may
be regarded as a way for promoting a voice that can be heard and have an

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 Community music therapy as participatory practice in a child welfare setting Page 13 of 17

impact in the child welfare system. Trines voices is given a possibility to

have an impact on the way practices are formed and evaluated. And,
resourced developed as a result of her participation may be used to mobil-
ize resources in her social environment. We can for example, argue that
resources she developed in therapy was used by her ‘outside’ of therapy,
as illustrated in the case story. This makes community music therapy par-
ticipatory and performative, and the possibilities and limitations of music
as a vehicle for human agency comes into focus (Stige and Aarø, 2012). It is
also important to remember the place music has in our culture and with
young people in particular (Ruud, 1998).

Concluding comments – the need for various strategies

I have argued that community music therapy may represent a perspective
combing aspects of music therapy and community work needed to meet
the demands outspoken from someone like Trine. As an interdisciplinary
field, community music therapy offers possibilities for both working with
the individual through health promoting processes, as well as facilitating
participation and collaboration as a part of social work. In the process of
facilitating participatory practices, community music therapists may bene-
fit from collaborating with community musicians, community workers,
and other professions. Being able to shift between individual and commu-
nal perspectives opens up the possibility of maintaining a distinct theoret-
ical perspective while simultaneously being able to change the perspective.
Further, I have highlighted the importance of listening to young people’s
voices in order to facilitate better practices in the context of child welfare
work (Skivenes and Strandbu, 2006). The argument of listening to the
voices of young people to decide the content of practice is taken from the
UN Child Convention, especially regarding articles concerning children’s
rights to be heard and to be empowered. Because child welfare practices in
general are related to the CRC, supporting approaches should also be
based in the same value system.
Drawing on Trine’s story, I suggest three strategies. First, there is the
need for an individual strategy. This strategy includes person-oriented
activities such as conversation, song writing, and the use of music technol-
ogy. The individual approach is aligned with what previously has been
called the conventional music therapy perspective. Second, from the case
example with Trine we learned that there is the need for a community-
oriented strategy wherein activities such as playing in a band or song writ-
ing comes into focus. The community-oriented approach is important
because it implies the facilitation of peer group relations, and contact with

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 Page 14 of 17 Viggo Krüger

school community, family members, or adults from a child welfare institu-

tions. Third, there is a need for a strategy which implies working with net-
works, social environments, and power relations. The third strategy is very
closed related to ideals taken from a traditional community work perspec-
tive, whereas ideas such as Arnsteins ladder of participation is prominent.
Taken all this into consideration, community music therapy may be seen as
an approach which might be able to solve a paradox inherited in a theory
many social workers rely on. If Trines story is valid, therapy may in some
extent be seen as a force and resource for social change and protest against
the system.

Acknowledgements
I thank Aleris Omsorg for their financial support in writing the article. I
also thank my colleges at GAMUT, Grieg Academy University of Bergen
for great support over many years. Many thanks also to Jan-Kåre Breivik
and Tobba Therkildsen Sudmann for inviting and inspiring me to write
this article. I have learned new things by entering the perspective of
Community Work as a result of collaborating with them.

Funding
Aleris Omsorg Norge (Aleris Care Norway).

Viggo Krü ger completed his PhD on music therapy in the context of Norwegian child welfare
in 2012. He holds a position as associate professor at GAMUT, University of Bergen. Since
2002, Krüger has facilitated music workshops for children and young people living under the
care of the Norwegian child welfare system.

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