Treating Child and Adolescent Aggression Through Bibliotherapy

Antisocial acts by children and teens are on the rise – from verbal abuse to physical bullying to cyber-threats to weapons in schools. Strictly punitive responses to aggressive behaviour may even escalate a situation, leaving peers, parents, and teachers feeling helpless.
This unique volume conceptualizes aggression as a symptom of underlying behavioural and emotional problems and examines the psychology of perpetrators and the power dynamics that foster intentionally hurtful behaviour in young people. It details for readers how bibliotherapy offers relevant, innovative, and flexible treatment – as a standalone intervention or as a preventive method in conjunction with other forms of treatment – and can be implemented with individuals and groups, parents, teachers, and even rivals.
This unique, must-have resource is essential reading for school psychologists, school counselors, social workers, and clinical child psychologists and any allied educational and mental health professionals who work with troubled youth.

Antisocial acts by children and teens are on the rise – from verbal abuse to physical bullying to cyber-threats to weapons in schools. Strictly punitive responses to aggressive behaviour may even escalate a situation, leaving peers, parents, and teachers feeling helpless.

This unique volume conceptualizes aggression as a symptom of underlying behavioural and emotional problems and examines the psychology of perpetrators and the power dynamics that foster intentionally hurtful behaviour in young people. It details for readers how bibliotherapy offers relevant, innovative, and flexible treatment – as a standalone intervention or as a preventive method in conjunction with other forms of treatment – and can be implemented with individuals and groups, parents, teachers, and even rivals.

This unique, must-have resource is essential reading for school psychologists, school counselors, social workers, and clinical child psychologists and any allied educational and mental health professionals who work with troubled youth.

Zipora Shechtman is Full Professor at the Faculty of Education, the School Counseling department, at the University of Haifa, Israel. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA; division 49), American Counseling Association (ACA; division of specialists of group work), American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA), and the Society for Research in Aggression. She is the Associate Editor of Group Dynamics (APA journal) and reviewer for several major journals in counseling and psychotherapy.
Her major area of research is individual and group treatment of children at risk in the schools, including children with social difficulties, children with LD, children of divorce, and aggressive children. She has recently published a book (2007, Erlbaum) entitled Group Counseling and Psychotherapy with Children and Adolescents. Treatment of aggression is her special interest; and she has published outcome and process research extensively in this area, conducted workshops on the treatment of aggression, and presented papers on the topic at international conferences. Her long practice with aggressive children and her intensive research on treatment will make this book a viable contribution to students, teachers, and professionals who are coping with aggressive youth.