"I Know Why You Wanted Me to Read This Book." Bibliotheraphy as a Tool of Intervention and Rehabilitation with Juveniles.

This paper presents preliminary findings on the use of bibliotherapy as a tool of intervention with juvenile offenders in a Youth Part from fours years of participant observation on the work of Judge Michael Corriero. Judge Corrieo presides over the children of Manhattan who are tried as Juvenile Offenders in the adult criminal court. This paper analyzes his use of biblitherapy as an innovative judicial interactive strategy that upholds the Therapeutic Jurisprudence model. The judge assigns defendants books to read from his Youth Part Library and uses these books as a directed tool of intervention and rehabilitation which helps him teach his defendants many important life lesons. In his judicial interactive process, Judge Corrieros method of assigning books as bibliotherapy makes a statement that no matter how serious the crime they have allegedly committed, he has not forgotten that his defendants are children, children who need to learn, children who need his guidance, children who he feels deserve the opportunity to develop their minds and dreams in schools and libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]