Effects of bibliotherapy on fourth and fifth graders' perceptions of physically disabled individuals

The purpose of the study was to determine if the perceptions which children have of physically disabled individuals can be altered through the use of a bibliotherapeutic intervention program. More specifically, the procedure employed was the oral reading of selected fiction books to fourth and fifth grade students by their classroom teacher.The experimental design of the study compared six groups (a total of sixteen classrooms) using pretest/posttest measures:Experimental Group I and Control Group I each consisted of three intact classrooms in which there were no physically disabled students.Experimental Group II and Control Group II each consisted of three intact classrooms into which one physically disabled student had been integrated.Experimental Group III and Control Group III each consisted of two intact classrooms in schools which contained a large proportion of physically disabled students.Bibliotherapeutic procedures were implemented in experimental classrooms. No treatment was implemented in control classrooms. Pretest and posttest measures were administered to all classrooms.The Perceptions of Disabled Persons Scale (Form A and Form B) was administered as the pretest and posttest. The instrument attempts to measure perceptions which children hold of physically disabled individuals. Each form contains thirty items, each requiring a true or false response. The span of scores on the scale ranged from 0 (extremely negative perceptions) to 180 (extremely positive perceptions).The procedures followed by the classroom teachers using the experimental program were explicitly described in a handbook provided for each of them. This information was reinforced by several personal meetings and discussions between the teachers and the experimenter. The experimental treatment was conducted during a five month period.The data gathered on Form A of the PDP were analyzed with a one-way analysis of variance to determine if there were initial differences among groups. Differences were found, and an analysis of covariance was used on the Form B data, adjusting scores on the basis of Form A scores, to identify any differences between groups receiving the treatment and those not receiving the treatment.A questionnaire was provided for all teachers using the bibliotherapy program. The responses on the questionnaire were informally analyzed in order to gain further information on the effects of the program.The two hypotheses tested by the study were:Hypothesis 1. There is no significant difference between the mean posttest scores of fourth and fifth grade students experiencing an experimental bibliotherapy intervention program and groups of fourth and fifth grade students not experiencing the experimental intervention.Hypothesis 2. There are no significant differences among the mean posttest scores taken from the Perceptions of Disabled Persons, scale for the three groupings of fourth and fifth grade students: classrooms having no physically disabled students, classrooms with one physically disabled student, classrooms in schools with a large proportion of physically disabled students.Subject to the limitations of the study, the following conclusions were reached:1. Based only on statistical findings, bibliotherapy, as defined in the study, did not alter the perceptions which nondisabled children have of physically disabled individuals. Although the statistical analysis did not find a significant difference between groups, all of the teachers involved in the bibliotherapy program felt that the program was useful, enjoyable, and had positive effects on the attitudes of their students.2. Differences do exist among the perceptions which children manifest of physically disabled individuals when the extent of exposure to individuals with physical disabilities varies within educational environments. Nondisabled children who had been exposed to many physically disabled students throughout their school years had significantly more positive perceptions of the disabled than did those students who had no disabled children in their school environments.Thesis (D.Ed