Human rights education experience for human rights sensitivity among Korean creative arts therapists: A focus on art and music therapists

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to provide direction and highlight implications for human rights education for creative arts therapists by exploring their experiences of human rights education designed to promote human rights sensitivity. Six creative arts therapists were recruited to participate in focus group interviews conducted online between August and September 2022. Additional interview data were collected until February 2023, and the data were transcribed afterward. This paper presents the qualitative part of a descriptive sequential mixed design. Qualitative analysis was performed to analyze the content, and a total of 5 main and 15 subthemes were identified. Taking the improvement in human rights sensitivity via education as the central phenomenon, we identified a pathway from expressing human rights sensitivity to directing human rights education for creative arts therapists. This pathway involved a factor that inhibited human rights sensitivity and a deficiency in human rights education. The results underscore the importance of supporting creative arts therapists in their occupational competencies by improving their sensitivity toward human rights and delivering human rights education that is aligned with their professional characteristics.