Kelly, W. R. (n.d.) An Evaluation of the Changing Lives Through Literature Program. Submitted To: Dr. Lawrence Jablecki, Director Brazoria County Community Supervision and Corrections Department.

Kelly, W. R. (n.d.) An Evaluation of the Changing Lives Through Literature Program. Submitted To: Dr. Lawrence Jablecki, Director Brazoria County Community Supervision and Corrections Department.

Author Affiliations: University of Texas
Artforms: Bibliotherapy, literature
Program: Brazoria County Community Supervision and Corrections Department Changing Lives Through Literature ( CLTL) Program
Program Description: The CLTL program in Brazoria County, Texas was adapted from the original Massachusetts program and “uses literature as a vehicle for cognitive and behavioral change.” The Texas program lasts six weeks and consists of weekly, two-hour meetings during which participants engage in facilitated discussion of a reading assignment “focused on the development over time of cognitive skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, as well as self examination, insight, awareness, etc.” Meetings take place on the campus of a local community college. Reading assignments differ by gender; males typically read philosophy such as Plato and Socrates, and females read contemporary gender-targeted works such as Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston.
Program (Study) Location: Brazoria County, Texas
Participant Type: Probationers, Probation Officers, and Judges
Sample Size: 49 Probationers, 8 Probation Officers, 2 Judges
Study Published: n.d.
Data Type: Qualitative: focus groups
Evaluation Focus: Perceptions of C LTL program by former inmates focusing on how CLTL changed or impacted their lives. For Probation Officers and Judges, the focus of the evaluation was on the overall perception of the CLTL program.