(Un)Bound: Deconstructing the lived experiences of practitioners providing bibliotherapeutic interventions to prisoners and prison leavers in Wales.

This doctoral thesis examines the lived experiences of third-sector practitioners who design and deliver bibliotherapeutic and education-based interventions for prisoners and prison leavers in Wales. Set against ongoing concerns about literacy, educational access, and rehabilitation within UK prisons, the study addresses a significant gap in existing research by focusing on the perspectives of the practitioners responsible for implementing reading- and literacy-focused interventions in custodial and post-release contexts. Adopting a hermeneutic phenomenological framework, the research explores how practitioners understand their roles, navigate institutional constraints, and interpret the value of bibliotherapy as both an educational and wellbeing intervention. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with third-sector staff involved in delivering bibliotherapeutic programmes, and the resulting data were analysed thematically to identify shared meanings, challenges, and opportunities across practice contexts.Findings highlight systemic barriers within prison education, including limited resources, restricted access to appropriate reading materials, and challenges in meeting the diverse literacy and learning needs of prisoner populations. The study also emphasises the importance of practitioner commitment, collaborative working, and the development of inclusive, level-appropriate resources. In addition, it demonstrates how bibliotherapy can support literacy development, wellbeing, identity formation, and engagement with education among prisoners and those transitioning back into the community.The thesis contributes original knowledge by foregrounding practitioner perspectives in the delivery of bibliotherapeutic interventions within the Welsh prison context and by proposing a reconceptualization of bibliotherapy as an intertextual, hermeneutic practice shaped by relationships, institutional structures, and lived experience. It offers recommendations for policymakers, educators, and third-sector organisations aimed at improving literacy provision, practitioner support, and the design of future interventions.Overall, the research advances understanding of how reading-based interventions operate within carceral settings and how they may contribute to rehabilitation, educational inclusion, and successful reintegration for prisoners and prison leavers.