1) Bibliotherapy cultural programs were used with female prisoners to help develop their communication skills, self-knowledge, and tolerance through discussing literature. 2) Books, poems, short stories, folk tales, and scripture were used to help process personal experiences, feelings, and situations specific to the target group. 3) Challenges included the prisoners' differing cultural backgrounds, uncertainty over their futures, and difficulties opening up about feelings and discussing womanhood. The results showed some therapeutic effects but the lasting impact remained uncertain.

1. Bibliotherapy with women
prisoners
Author: Eszter Csorba-Simon
Csorba Győző Library
BOBCATSSS 2015, Brno

2. Motivation of prisoners
• Searching for treats
• Getting to know new people,
communication
• „something is happening” – not to be in the
cells
• Compliment, good credit (device)

3. Cultural programmes
• Religious
practices
• Bibliotherapy

4. Training with females
• Demonstration of the groups
– Age: 16-52
– Difficulties: uncertainty, behavioural
embarrassment

5. Training with females
• Target of workmanships
– development of the communicational skill
– development of the self-knowledge
– configuration of tolerance and self-knowledge
– endearing the reading
– mapping their womanhood

6. Used material
• Suitable for the discussion of specific
situation, problems of the target group
• Personal talking (association, memories,
feelings)
• Processing with an experience level with
directed questions

7. Used material
• Literary
works
• Tales/folk-
tale
• Scripture
history
• Article
• Bestseller
• Etc.
• Poems
• Short stories

8. Difficulties
• Reading - cultural differenciess
• Uncertainty – prior retribution
• Passing and handling of the womanhood
• My role – educator or equal groupleader?

9. Problems inside the groups
• Deficit of self-knowledge
• They’re talking about their feelings and
thoughts difficultly
• Rejection of the literature and culture
• Unkown future

10. Experiences, results
• The difference of practical experiences from the
theory
• Relation – not so close, like before with the youth
• The importance of the development of confidential
atmosphere
• Opening towards the literature
• Expected therapeutic effect:
in behaviour, in thinking, the expression of emotions
• How lasting will the results be?

11. Thank you for the attention!
csorba-simon.eszter@baralib.hu