Using A Culturally Safe Creative Writing Programme to Empower and Heal Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Men in Prison

Abstract

Abstract Interviews with 30 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male prisoners who attended a culturally safe creative writing programme entitled ‘Dreaming Inside: Voices from the Junee Correctional Centre’, are used to explore how (re)connecting to culture can help improve social and emotional well‐being, and how the power of being heard and being able to express feelings and thoughts through poetry and storytelling, can help heal deep‐seated emotional trauma and grief. This article addresses a gap in research and theory regarding what types of prison programmes may be of greatest benefit for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners.