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Changing Lives Through Literature (CLTL) is a bibliotherapy program that offers alternative probation sentences to offenders. The program was created in 1991 by Robert Waxler, an English professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and Superior Court Judge Robert Kane.〔Abraham, 2011〕 At a cost of less than $500 a person, proponents say that CLTL saves the government tens of thousands of dollars when compared with the cost of housing an inmate for a lifetime at an annual rate of $30,000. The program is said to help reduce the recidivism rate among certain segments of the prison population. Former offenders credit the program for giving them a second chance.〔Barker, 2010〕 Several studies of the CLTL program have been published. A longitudinal study by Jarjoura & Krumholz (1998) found favorable results, with lower rates of recidivism than those in a comparison, non-program group.〔Waxler & Hall, 2011, p. 5; Jarjoura & Krumholz, 1998〕 Liberal and conservative penal systems throughout the U.S., including Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Texas, and Virginia, have embraced the program. CLTL was brought to Manchester, England as part of the "Stories Connect" program run by the Writers in Prison Network.〔Trounstine & Waxler 2005, p. 37; Basbanes, 2006, pp. 306–312; Allen, 2011; Barker, 2010; Stephenson, 2010〕 The program has received a New England Board of Higher Education award for excellence and an Exemplary Education Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. ==History== In the 1980s, English professor Robert Waxler attended a summer seminar about literature and society at Princeton University. They discussed the purpose of literature in a technological society. What role would literature play in the future? Waxler felt strongly that "literature was the most important tool we had to humanize ourselves and society". A decade later, Waxler began to develop this concept into an experimental hypothesis. He contacted his friend and tennis partner, Judge Robert Kane, and proposed an idea: instead of sending criminals to jail who might otherwise go through the revolving door of criminal justice—sentence them to a discussion group run by Waxler at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. "It was...a chance to demonstrate that literature did have the power to change lives", recalls Waxler.〔Waxler & Trounstine, 1999〕 The Changing Lives Through Literature (CLTL) program first began in the fall of 1991 at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, with Robert Waxler, Judge Robert Kane, and probation officer Wayne St. Pierre.〔Trounstine & Waxler, 2005, pp. 1-2〕 Initial applicants were male probationers from New Bedford who were offered the opportunity to participate in the program. If they successfully completed the program, six-months would be reduced from their probation.〔Schutt, 2011〕 In 1992, Jean Trounstine cofounded the first CLTL program for women.〔Trounstine & Waxler 2005, pp. 86-87; Jablecki, 2005, p. 32; Trounstine taught drama for a decade at Framingham Women's Prison. Her book, ''Shakespeare Behind Bars'' (2001) documents her work teaching female prisoners.〕 The success of CLTL has led to its adoption in at least 12 other states. The program is also taught in Manchester, England. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Changing Lives Through Literature」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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