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Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. A Beil & Howell Information Company 300North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor.Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE EFFECT OF COLLABORATIVE WRITING ON COHESION IN POETRY THERAPY GROUPS by Karina M. Golden submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Counseling and Development Signataxfe of Committee: Chairman 9 J t - t Dean ofi the College Date 1994 The American University Washington, D. C. 20016 TEE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9523653 UMI Microform 9523653 Copyright 1995, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17# United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor# MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE EFFECT OF COLLABORATIVE WRITING ON COHESION IN POETRY THERAPY GROUPS BY Karina M. Golden ABSTRACT The use of poetry as a therapeutic technique has evolved into a creative arts therapy known as poetry therapy. Poetry therapy has been used as a therapeutic technique to enhance cohesion. Ross (1974) and Mazza (1981) both used the Group Environment Scale (Moos and Hanson, 1974) as a pretest and posttest measure of group cohesion and discovered that poetry therapy scores on the posttests were significantly greater in poetry therapy groups than those in non-poetry groups. Mazza indicated that the use cf collaborative writing in the poetry therapy groups was identified by participants as an aid to feeling s of cohesion. The purpose of this study was to build on previous research conducted on poetry therapy and cohesion by isolating the variable of collaborative writing and comparing control groups without collaborative writing and experimental groups with collaborative writing on the Group Environment Scale. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The subjects in this study were 33 graduate students in an intact Group Counseling class at an urban university were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. The treatment for the control group consisted of six sessions of poetry therapy without collaborative writing. The experimental groups received six sessions of poetry therapy with collaborative writing. A t-test was used to compare control and experimental posttest scores on the Group Environment Scale. The comparison revealed that there was a significant difference (p < .05) between posttest scores in poetry therapy groups with collaborative writing. Therefore the hypothesis that there would be a significant difference between control and experimental groups was accepted. This study supports previous research on the effect of poetry therapy and collaborative writing as ways of increasing cohesion in therapy groups. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The creative genius is never one but many, and speaks in stillness to the souls of the multitude, whose meaning and destiny he embodies no less than the artist's own. -Carl Gustav Jung Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT...................................................ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...........................................iv LIST OF TABLES........................................... vii Chapter I. THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING...................... 1 Introduction Statement of the Problem Rationale for the Hypothesis Hypothesis Definition of Terms Assumptions Delimitations Importance of This Study II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE........................ 23 Group Therapy Group Cohesion Poetry Therapy Research in Poetry Therapy III. METHODOLOGY..................................... 73 Research Design Subjects Instruments Procedure Data Collection and Analysis IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION.......................... 93 Hypothesis Testing Discussion Other Findings Conclusion V. DISCUSSION..................................... 102 Discussion of Results Implications v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF TABLES 1. Demographic Characteristics of Participants 76 2. Complete List of Poems Available to Poetry Group Leaders......................................... 88 3. A Complete List of the Six Poems Used in This Study........................................... 89 4. Comparison of Mean Pretest Scores in Cohesion on the GES for Poetry Therapy Groups with and without Collaborative Writing........................... 95 5. Comparison of Mean Pretest and Posttest Scores in Cohesion for Poetry Therapy Groups without Collaborative Writing........................... 95 6. comparison of Mean Pretest and Posttest Scores in Cohesion on the GES for Poetry Therapy Groups with Collaborative Writing........................... 97 7. Comparison of Mean Posttest Scores in Cohesion on the GES for Poetry Therapy Groups with and without Collaborative Writing........................... 97 8. Comparison of Mean Pretest and Posttest Scores on the GES for Poetry Therapy Groups without Collaborative Writing............. 100 9. Comparison of Mean Pretest and Posttest Scores on the GES for Poetry Therapy Groups with Collaborative Writing.......................... 100 vii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING Introduction Counseling at its best employs an artistic quality that allows individuals to express themselves in a creative and unique manner (Gladding, 1992, p.9). Whether through the use of art, dance, music, drama, or poetry, the creative arts can enhance healing in both clinical and developmental populations. The creative arts in counseling are, as a group, process-oriented, empowering, authentic, and insight focused (Gladding, p.10). Once used only as an adjunct to traditional techniques, the use of the creative arts in healing has evolved to the disciplines of art, dance, music, and drama therapy. The creative use of literature or poetry as a therapeutic technique has evolved into the modality known as poetry therapy or bibliotherapy. In the 1990's, the term "therapy,” once reserved solely for the treatment of individuals who were diagnosed as being mentally ill, is now also being used to refer to work with normal populations to enhance personal growth. The early medical model of the helpless patient and the all-knowing doctor has gradually been replaced by one in which there is 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. an intentional interaction between one individual, known as the "therapist" or the "counselor, and another individual, the "client" or the "patient, where the goal is to make that person feel better about him or herself. Thus, the distinction between therapy as a technique used with clinical populations and counseling as a technique for normal populations is no longer clear. The terms "therapy" and "counseling" are often used interchangeably to refer to an activity in which individuals who are not mentally ill engage in a relationship with a therapist or counselor for the purpose of self-improvement. The terms "group therapy" or "group counseling" or "group work" refer to various kinds of groups in which individuals participate to increase their knowledge of themselves and others, to assist in the changes they most want to make in life, and to give them some of the tools to make desired changes (Corey and Corey, 1987, p.9). The goals of these groups may vary from the treatment of mental illness to the enhancement of communication