Bibliotherapy: an indirect approach to treatment of childhood aggression

The process of group therapy with five aggressive young boys, utilizing bibliotherapy as its primary mode of intervention, was investigated and is illustrated in this paper. The rationale for using affective bibliotherapy in a group context is given, the content of the program is described, and the process is fully displayed. The effectiveness of the treatment was studied in a single-subject design, comparing treatment children with their matched counterparts. Results pointed to reduced aggression of all the five treatment students, compared with no change in the control children, by self- and teacher report. In addition, results based on an analysis of transcripts showed increased constructive behavior in group for all participants. Although these results should not be generalized, they suggest an interesting line of research for future investigation.