“You Think You’re Helping Them, But They’re Helping You Too”: Experiences of Scottish Male Young Offenders Participating in a Dog Training Program

Abstract

Interaction with animals can be beneficial to humans and animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) are increasingly popular in a range of contexts. Dog training programs (DTPs) are the most popular form of AAI in custodial contexts; prisoners often have multiple needs and DTPs seem to facilitate a diverse range of positive outcomes, including improvements in well-being, behavior, and offending behavior. However, evidence on the efficacy of prison-based DTPs is still limited and these evaluations often lack detail or methodological rigor. We examined the experiences of male young offenders (N = 70) using thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted following completion of a DTP. The themes that emerged indicated a broad range of inter-related experiences and positive outcomes. The most prevalent theme related to their experiences with Dogs (including feelings and attitudes), and there were perceived improvements categorized as: Positive Effects (including mood and well-being), Motivation, Charitable Purpose, Self-Efficacy, Improved Skills, Impulsivity, and Emotional Management. These themes mapped well onto outcomes previously identified in research on DTPs, and to the program’s core aims of improving behavior, educational engagement, employability, and well-being. The diversity and nature of these themes indicates that DTPs have considerable potential to engage and benefit those individuals with multiple needs, such as young offenders, and ultimately to achieve positive long-term outcomes with significant social, health, and economic impact.

Effects of Dog-Based Animal-Assisted Interventions in Prison Population: A Systematic Review

“…In addition, four articles [ 18 , 32 , 56 , 57 ] (20% of the total) evaluated both female and male inmates; one of them [ 18 ] was developed in a psychiatric prison. Additionally, four articles [ 45 , 46 , 58 , 59 ] (20% of the total) investigated young inmates.…”

“…Table 2 displays the study design in each for the selected articles. A total of 14 (70% of the total) articles were classified as observational studies (an experimental group that was only assessed once at the end of the intervention) [ 14 , 18 , 39 , 44 , 48 , 49 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ]. Of them, seven (50%) followed a quantitative [ 18 , 39 , 48 , 49 , 54 , 56 , 57 ] and seven (50%) a qualitative methodology [ 14 , 44 , 52 , 53 , 55 , 58 , 59 ].…”

Considering Family Dog Attachment Bonds: Do Dog-Parent Attachments Predict Dog-Child Attachment Outcomes in Animal-Assisted Interventions?

“…Animals, including dogs, have been known to respond in less predictable ways in the presence of these populations which can in some cases lead to increased risk ( Overall and Love, 2001 ; Yin, 2011 ). Nevertheless, dogs are commonly used in therapeutic settings and interventions with both children and individuals with disabilities ( Leonardi et al, 2017 ; Jones et al, 2019 ). Less is known about why some dog-child pairs clash (e.g., specific stimuli, strained interaction history, etc.)…”

An experimental trial of a dog-training program in a juvenile detention center

“…Studies of programs in detention centers or those targeting juveniles suffer from many of the same methodological limitations as those involving adult prison facilities. Programs have been found to develop or enhance self-efficacy and empathy (Cooke and Farrington 2015;Davis 2007;Harbolt and Wood 2001;Leonardi et al 2017;Merriam 2007), improve resident-staff relationships (Merriam 2007), and reduce recidivism (Chianese 2009;Merriam 2007) via quasiexperimental or descriptive case study designs. However, Seivert (2014) finds no improvements in empathy or psychosocial development.…”