Interkulturelle Musiktherapie –Ein Literaturreview

Abstract

Cultural diversity has become a fact of our reality. To what extent this is considered in music therapy has been little studied. Four German and six English language music therapy journals were selected for a literature review of the period 1990–2019. They were systematically screened for articles with an intercultural context. The 196 articles identified, 138 of which in English, were evaluated using time-series representation and an evaluation matrix with nine categories, including client age groups. Intercultural music therapy articles with case studies appear from the turn of the millennium. With an increase in tendency, they have lately accounted for a fluctuation rate of approximately 4 %. The results show a classification of migration-specific pressures in intercultural music therapy work emphasizing the effects on children and adolescents. Pilot studies in multicultural schools and kindergartens report positive effects of music therapy, but admit insufficient sample size and lack of evidence. The importance of intercultural competency for music therapy work is emphasized, however there is no indication of its integration in music therapy training. Interdisciplinary research projects, together with educational and systemic psychiatric disciplines at schools, could help with difficulties in providing evidence for music therapy. Surveys on teaching intercultural competency at music therapy training-institutions would be useful.