Date of Award
Spring 5-16-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Expressive Therapies
Major
Expressive Therapies
First Advisor
David B. Mowers
Abstract
Abstract
There is a youth mental health crisis taking place across the United States with factors such as social media influence, bullying, and isolation as just a few of the contributing factors. When childhood adversity is compounded by involvement in the juvenile or criminal justice system, adolescents face elevated risk for complex trauma presentations, mental health disorders, and suicidality. This Capstone thesis proposes the use of sociometry as an expressive arts therapy intervention to be utilized in an adolescent male detention center. Multiple sociometric tools were employed during said intervention including the step-in circle and the spectrogram to promote group cohesion and to facilitate reflective storytelling. Over the course of eight, 60-minute sessions, the adolescent male group members engaged in the therapeutic process, fostering connections and sharing personal narratives. Future directions for this work might include sociometric interventions in a variety of congregate care settings including adolescent female detention centers.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Chenard, Josh, "Sociometry for Connection and Storytelling in an Adolescent Male Detention Center" (2026). Expressive Therapies Theses. 129.
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/expressive_therapies_theses/129
