Prisoners are a special group of people who were tried B the court because of violating laws, and have been detained in prisons for re-socialization. In this special environment they can not avoid to face every aspect of psychological and spiritual pressure, therefore their mental health status is not optimistic. Compared with men, female prisoners have different psychological characteristics and they need more social support.Among the many factors that affect prisoners’ physical and mental health, aggression is an extremely important one. Aggression is a combination of three aspects: cognition, emotion, and behavior, which aims at harming others or themselves.It is the result of a combination of physical, psychological, and social factors.If there is no effective intervention method, excessive aggression will continue to be a hidden danger affecting the harmony and stability of society and the safety of people’s lives and property after they are released from prisons. It may also be harmful to the prisoners themselves.
This study described an intervention process for six female prisoners (three of whom were highly aggressive) B restrictive group sandplay therapy for ten times. During the process, the visitors' works were conflicted and self-centered at first, and through communication and adjustment, they eventually reached a common sense and integration. After the intervention, the aggression of highly aggressive prisoners has been reduced to varying degrees, which reflects a good intervention effect.Group sandplay therapy has an effect on clients from the following aspects:
(1)The “mother-child unit” relationship provides visitors with enough sense of security, thus laying down their defense;
(2)Free and protected space allows visitors to express and vent their emotions, and release their aggressive emotions;
(3)The feeling of “like others”makes visitors feel a sense of belonging, thus showing their true selves;
(4)The symbolism of the toy allows visitors to present and understand themselves, coordinate cognitive resources in interaction and promote changes in aggressive cognition;
(5)The rules of the restrictive group sandplay therapy provide visitors with a soft approach of behavioral learning in order to replace the aggressive behavior.
As a humanistic psychological counseling method, sandplay therapy can provide visitors with a safe emotional expression place, vent their bad feelings, and enhance their self-understanding. In addition, the interactions among members are unknowingly mediated to coordinate resources and enhance understanding, which can effectively reduce the aggressive emotion, cognition, and behavior of female prisoners.