Thesis (Ph.D.)--Victoria University (Melbourne, Vic.), 2010.

Magister Bibliothecologiae - MBibl / The problem upon which this study is based, is to determine the importance of bibliotherapy to children who are exposed to daily violence in society. Exposure to daily violence have detrimental consequences for these children which result in that it is a traumatic experience for them, that could affect personality development and interpersonal relations. This reseach is done within the context of a school situated in a violence society which provide the ideal oppurtunity to reach such children. The school provides an atmosphere which is conducive to reading and verbalisation. / South Africa

The thesis is concerned with a study of the effectiveness of literature of high literary and moral standards used as bibliotherapy with high school students to effect a change of personal and/or social attitudes , as evaluated by statistical measures. The study lies in the major field of Educational Research and Services, and in the minor field of English and Library Science. Bibiliotherapy attempts to use the influence of characters, ideas, situations, and information in literature as a means of presenting patterns and standards of behavior and evaluation. These are used to bring about an adjustment of personal concepts and values, which control action, as a means of coping wit h individual problems. Self-perception is the objective of bibliotherapy which is built on a re- conceptualized system of values based on personal feelings and experiences, first hand and vicarious.

Long after being bullied, many individuals find it difficult to leave their bullying experiences behind and have difficulty confidently move forward with their lives. Memories of being bullied often remain as an agitation that detracts from personal happiness and wellbeing. This study included 10 female and three male undergraduate students who reported experiencing mild to moderate bulling during childhood. Participants were self-proclaimed Harry Potter fans. All participants reported previously reading the entire Harry Potter book series. As a reframing strategy to address past bullying experiences, this research utilized bibliotherapy in addition to scriptotherapy. Participants selected one chapter from the Harry Potter series, one that they were already familiar with and that included bullying situations. They rewrote the chapter, inserting themselves as a character into the story with the original characters. In re-writing the chapter, participants built and maintained constructive peer relationships with familiar characters in the Harry Potter series. They inserted themselves into their selected chapter as standing up against the story’s characters who were portrayed as bullies. Based on feedback from participant interviews, individuals reported that the writing experience supported them in reframing their painful memories of bullying. They perceived themselves in a proactive position, and thus perceived the experience in a more positive light. In turn, this experience of reframing their personal story supported them in mitigating the unsettling and painful memories of bullying that they experienced during adolescence. Based on the participants’ feedback, recommendations are made for mental health professionals to more effectively intervene with youth who experience bullying. The combined strategies of bibliotherapy and scriptotherapy support individuals’ reframing of their past bullying experiences. Although this research was conducted with youth who were Harry Potter fans, youth who struggle with other challenges may also benefit from a combination of bibliotherapy and scriptotherapy. When youth identify with characters in children’s literature, this relationship with fictional characters may form the foundation for reframing and rethinking past challenges. Youth who enjoy writing and expressing themselves in creative ways may be especially open to scriptotherapy.

The diploma thesis deals with the posibility of using bibliotherapy as a form of reeducation in children with dyslexia. The diploma thesis contains theoretical knowledge about the isme of dyslexia and the definitiv of the expressive method - bibliotherapy. The theoretical part also presents findings from the use of bibliotherapy specifically in children with dyslexia. The practical part deals with the application of thein own bibliotherapeutic material in children diagnosed with dyslexia agend 9 to 11 years and its evaluation. The practical material is focused on the development of impaired congnitive functions in children with dyslexia. The main goal of this work is to evaluace the extent to which the propřed material can be used in reeducation in children with dyslexia. KEY WORDS dyslexia, reeducation, bibliotherapy.

No description available.

When Latino children immigrate to the United States, they encounter challenges and opportunities associated with immigration (Alba & Foner, 2015; Arbona et al., 2010). Although there were nearly 2.5 million foreign-born children living in the United States in 2016 (U.S. CensusBureau, 2016), little is known about these children’s perspectives on immigration, particularly their perspectives on homesickness. The current research study investigated Latino immigrant children’s perspectives on homesickness and bilingual picture books containing stories of homesick Latino immigrant children. The children’s experiences were compared with current theories ofacculturative stress.Through semi-structured interviews using the hermeneutic method, the researchers interviewed 12 Latino children, aged 8-12, who immigrated to the United States within the current school year. Contributions to homesickness included missing family, friends, and the familiarity of their home countries as well as difficulty learning English. The children reported feeling safer in the United States and recognized greater opportunities for their future because of immigration. Subjects identified with the books in which characters’ experiences were similar to their own. Like current theories of acculturative stress, the children have found relief in homesickness through socialsupport.It is recommended that future mental health practitioners and educators working with Latino immigrant children help them recognize and express their feelings about immigration, provide reassurance, and tailor response strategies to the needs of each individual child. Additional research is needed to better understand Latino immigrant children’s perspectives on homesickness and other challenges and opportunities that accompany immigration.

The purpose of this research project was to use picture books to create family literacy bags surrounding the topic of divorce, in order to explore their impact on children and families. Divorce is on the rise and so many children are facing, or may face divorce, in their preadolescent lives. This thesis involved creating a tool that will help enrich family support and guidance with issues or stressors that arise from the divorce. As educators, caregivers and school personnel consider the use of family literacy bags, my research has the potential to impact these students and their families. Through my research, I was able to create six family literacy bags that included a book, with a lesson plan and activity. While creating these six family literacy bags, I considered how the child may feel before, after or during a divorce. I included a variety of different picture books about divorce to ensure that the story would be relevant to each family. I used activities in my lesson plans that would give the parent or guardian and child the opportunity to share their feelings with one another, while spending time together. Two families participated in my research study. I allowed the students to choose two family literacy bags with their family and allowed them a week's time to complete the family literacy bag. In addition, survey results of the participating parent or guardian after completing both family literacy bags with their child will be included.

The present study was designed to test the efficacy of a bibliotherapy-relapse prevention (BT-RP) program for panic attacks in which the active BT-RP condition was compared to a waiting-list control condition. Prior to the administration of the six-month BT-RP program, all participants completed an initial BT intervention (Febbraro, 1997) based on the book Coping with Panic (Clum, 1990). The BT-RP program was designed to: (a) review major components of the initial intervention; (b) increase practice of panic coping skills and therapeutic self-exposure; (c) enhance social support for panic recovery; (d) teach cognitive restructuring skills related to relapse prevention; (e) provide a protocol to follow in the event of a setback; and (f) reduce overall levels of stress. Brief monthly phone contacts were included in the BT-RP condition. Thirty-six participants, 17 in the BT-RP condition and 19 in the WL control condition, completed the study. A 2 (Treatment condition: BT-RP versus WL control) X 2 (Time: Pre-BT-RP assessment versus Post-BT-RP assessment) mixed-model research design was used to analyze the results. Results indicted significant reductions from pre- to post-treatment in the BT-RP condition for panic cognitions, anticipatory anxiety, agoraphobic avoidance, and depression, but not in the WL condition. When statistically controlling for initial levels of these variables via analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs), significant post-treatment differences in the expected direction emerged for these four dependent measure and for state anxiety. In addition, the BT-RP group reported significantly fewer panic attacks during the six-month course of the treatment trial than the WL control group on a measure of retrospective recall of full-blown panic attacks. There was also a statistically significant proportional between-group difference in terms of clinically significant improvement for full-blown panic attacks and agoraphobic avoidance in favor of the BT-RP group. However, no significant between-group differences emerged for the maintenance of initial treatment gains for panic frequency, panic symptoms, panic cognitions, anticipatory anxiety, or agoraphobic avoidance. Results of the present study are discussed in the framework of benefits of the present BT-RP program, limitations of the findings, recommendations for future research in this area, and implications for BT treatments in general. / Ph. D.

2024 / Recent research has highlighted the importance of developing accessible, low-intensity interventions for child anxiety. Bibliotherapy, which utilizes books and written materials as a form of therapeutic intervention, can increase access to evidence-based treatment approaches at an extremely low cost. The present study employs a brief storybook intervention (The Bravery Book) to guide caregivers and children (ages 4-7) to complete personally-relevant anxiety exposures from home, without therapist support. Participants included forty children (15 males, Mage = 6.1, SD = .97) identified by caregivers as exhibiting elevated symptoms of fear and/or anxiety.Study 1 examined the feasibility and acceptability of the storybook intervention. Results showed that all caregiver-child dyads in the experimental group (n = 20) read the storybook at least once, and a majority continued to utilize it during the 6-week study timeframe. On average, caregivers provided moderate to high ratings on indices of satisfaction with the storybook intervention. Results suggest that caregivers of children with less severe anxiety were more satisfied with the storybook than those with more severe anxiety. Overall, findings support the feasibility and acceptability of the storybook intervention for caregivers and young children with anxiety concerns. Study 2 evaluated whether the storybook improved children’s and caregivers’ knowledge about anxiety and exposure practices, and increased their preference for exposure-based approaches. Caregivers in the experimental group reported significantly more knowledge about anxiety and exposures by the end of the study relative to the waitlist control group. Overall, caregivers in both groups held favorable views of exposure at the start of the study. Contrary to our hypotheses, caregivers’ attitudes toward exposure and children’s approach- and avoidance-based responses to anxiety case vignettes did not significantly differ by condition. Study 3 examined whether the storybook intervention resulted in exposure engagement and decreased anxiety-accommodating caregiver behaviors. The storybook intervention resulted in the development of personalized exposure hierarchies and exposure engagement among a majority of dyads in the experimental group. Caregivers’ anxiety-accommodating behaviors significantly decreased as a function of time across both the experimental and waitlist control groups, but contrary to our hypotheses, the effect of condition was not significant. Though this study was limited by a small sample size, findings suggest that the storybook is an acceptable intervention that holds promise for improving caregivers’ and children’s knowledge about exposures and facilitating exposure engagement.