The Last 20 Years of Psychodrama in Turkish and International Academic Papers: A Document Analysis Study

Abstract

Objective
 Although the history of psychodrama, which has a wide area of use, dates back to the early 1900s (Imholz, 2008; Ersever, 1994), it is seen that the interest in psychodrama has increased significantly since the beginning of the 20th century. Therefore, this study aims to examine its distribution according to problem areas of the publications in which the effectiveness of psychodrama is examined between 2001 and 2021 in Turkish academic papers and international academic papers, the sample group studied, and the use of psychodrama as a method or technique. 
 Method
 In this study, document analysis, which is a qualitative data collection method, was used. A total of 48 publications were reached within the scope of this research. Content analysis was performed on the data obtained from the documents. 
 Results and Conclusions
 The problem areas that the publications examining the effectiveness of psychodrama focus on are divided into five categories: psychopathology, psychological health, social skills, interpersonal relations, and career development; the sample groups focused on are divided into four categories: children, adolescents, youth and middle-aged adults; and the mode of intervention is divided into two categories: method and technique. It is noted that studies examining the effectiveness of psychodrama on psychological health in Turkish academic papers and international academic papers are at the forefront and that there is limited research on career development. It has been found that articles and thesis studies in Turkish academic papers mostly focus on the effect of psychodrama on psychological health, social skills, and interpersonal relations; while studies in international academic papers focus on its effect on psychopathology and psychological health. It is seen that the publications examining the effectiveness of psychodrama in Turkish academic papers and international academic papers are most frequently related to young adults, and least frequently related to children and middle-aged adults. In addition, no articles were found in Turkish academic papers that examine the effectiveness of psychodrama on children and adolescents. When compared to its use as a method, it has been concluded that psychodrama is mostly used as a technique in publications in Turkish academic papers and international academic papers.