Bibliotherapy as a Proposed Tool to Treatment for Victims of Rape and Sexual Assault
Open Access
Author:
Rastatter, Anna Catherine
Area of Honors:
English
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Jason Elliott Gines, Thesis Supervisor Lisa Ruth Sternlieb, Thesis Honors Advisor Dr. Deirdre Elizabeth Mary O'sullivan, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Bibliotherapy rape sexual assault PTSD therapy
Abstract:
The purpose of this research is to review the findings of bibliotherapy within the field of mental health as a tool for therapeutic intervention. This paper seeks to establish that bibliotherapy would be an effective form of therapy for people who have experienced rape and sexual assault. Initially, this work will define rape, sexual assault, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and bibliotherapy. The connections between these definitions will provide an empirical basis for the author’s goal of establishing bibliotherapy as a viable treatment for victims of rape and sexual assault. A review of the literature available on the aforementioned topics is also conducted in this paper. Different populations that have benefited from bibliotherapy are reviewed in the paper. These groups include prisoners and people with psychiatric disorders, particularly veterans. This paper explicates successful outcomes with current populations in hopes to establish that bibliotherapy would be effective with victims of rape and sexual assault. In addition, these experiences are heavily correlated with the mental illnesses that benefit from bibliotherapy.
