Group psychotherapy in prison: Facilitating change inside the walls

Abstract

The inclusion of prison based group psychotherapy in this special issue is timely. Given the continued rise in prison populations, a premium is placed on identifying efficient, yet effective prison based interventions. One option for offender rehabilitation is group psychotherapy. As such, the aim of this paper is to review what we already know about the implementation of group psychotherapy and to identify what we need to learn. Within the context of correctional mental health treatment, this manuscript reviews the current state of knowledge regarding the availability of group psychotherapy services to incarcerated offenders and the efficacy of group services. We will conclude with a discussion of six strategies for effective group therapy interventions with inmates. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.