Dell Colleen, Chalmers Darlene, Stobbe Mark, Rohr Betty, Husband Alicia
Department of Sociology, School of Public Health, University of Saskatchewan , Saskatoon, Canada.
Faculty of Social Work, University of Regina , Regina, Canada.
Int J Prison Health. 2019 Aug 29;15(3):209-231. doi: 10.1108/IJPH-04-2018-0020. Epub 2019 Mar 1.
Prison-based animal programs are becoming increasingly common in North America. The majority focus on community and animal well-being, with less explicit therapeutic goals for human participants. The purpose of this paper is to measure the objectives of a canine animal-assisted therapy (AAT) program in a Canadian psychiatric prison and examine whether the program supports inmates' correctional plans.
DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: A modified instrumental case study design was applied with three inmates over a 24-AAT-session program. Quantitative and qualitative AAT session data were collected and mid- and end-of-program interviews were held with the inmates, their mental health clinicians and the therapy dog handlers.
Inmates connected with the therapy dogs through the animals' perceived offering of love and support. This development of a human-animal bond supported inmates' correctional plans, which are largely situated within a cognitive-behavioral skill development framework. Specifically, inmates' connections with the therapy dogs increased recognition of their personal feelings and emotions and positively impacted their conduct.
RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS: The findings suggest that prison-based AAT programs emphasizing inmate mental well-being, alongside that of animal and community well-being generally, merit further exploration. It would be worthwhile to assess this AAT program with a larger and more diverse sample of inmates and in a different institutional context and also to conduct a post-intervention follow-up.
ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This is the first study of a prison-based AAT program in a Canadian psychiatric correctional facility.
在北美，基于监狱的动物项目越来越普遍。大多数项目关注社区和动物福祉，对人类参与者的治疗目标则不太明确。本文旨在衡量加拿大一所精神病监狱中犬类动物辅助治疗（AAT）项目的目标，并考察该项目是否支持囚犯的改造计划。
设计/方法/途径：采用改良的工具性案例研究设计，对三名囚犯进行了为期24次AAT治疗的项目。收集了AAT治疗课程的定量和定性数据，并在项目进行到一半时和结束时对囚犯、他们的心理健康临床医生以及治疗犬的训导员进行了访谈。
囚犯通过感知到治疗犬给予的爱和支持与它们建立了联系。这种人犬关系的发展支持了囚犯的改造计划，这些计划主要基于认知行为技能发展框架。具体而言，囚犯与治疗犬的联系增强了他们对个人感受和情绪的认知，并对他们的行为产生了积极影响。
研究局限/启示：研究结果表明，基于监狱的AAT项目在强调囚犯心理健康的同时，兼顾动物和社区福祉，值得进一步探索。用更大、更多样化的囚犯样本，在不同的机构环境中评估这个AAT项目，并进行干预后随访，将是很有价值的。
原创性/价值：这是对加拿大一所精神病惩教机构中基于监狱的AAT项目的首次研究。
