Art therapy in a women's correctional facility

Abstract

The following article describes an innovative art therapy program at Kentucky Correctional Institute for Women, a minimum and maximum security facility located in Pewee Valley, Kentucky. The program was designed to provide an alternative therapeutic resource for inmates previously untouched or unaffected by other modalities. The article, then, describes the evolution of a group comprised of aggressive, acting out and therapeutically unsophisticated women. By tracing specific sessions to analyze group process and dynamics, the article observes that previously untapped material may be made accessible by the use of non-verbal techniques. It is apparent, then, that a prison population may be reached and that change may, indeed, be effected.