Measuring the Psychological Impacts of Prison-Based Dog Training Programs and In-Prison Outcomes for Inmates

Abstract

As interest grows in programs that improve prison inmates’ behavior and psychosocial well-being, any such interventions must be rigorously examined and their underlying mechanisms for change must be understood. This pilot study examined the use of prison-based dog training programs across Washington State Department of Corrections facilities for their impacts on inmates’ infraction rates. The study also compared levels of empathy, self-efficacy, and anxiety between program participants and nonparticipants. Findings indicated that prison dog program participants’ infraction rates improved and that participants had lower levels of anxiety than nonparticipants.

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

“…Risk-of-bias assessment was summarized in Table 1 . The lack of control or comparison group (only 25% of the articles fulfilled this criteria) [ 32 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ], random assignment of participants to intervention (15% of the articles fulfilled this criteria) [ 44 , 45 , 46 ], random selection of participants for assessment (0% of the articles fulfilled this criteria), or the follow-up rate (25% of the articles fulfilled this criteria) [ 39 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 ] are the most critical concerns.…”

“…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 shows the control group protocols for each article. Fourteen of them [ 14 , 18 , 39 , 44 , 48 , 49 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ] did not include a control group, while the design of remaining six studies [ 32 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 50 , 51 ] did. In this regard, treatment as usual or activities without dog presence were the most usual protocols for control groups.…”

“…In this regard, treatment as usual or activities without dog presence were the most usual protocols for control groups. Only one article of those which present a control group included a passive control group (where participants did not participate in any therapy or activity) [ 32 ]. Further details can be checked in Table 2 .…”

“…Different AAI approaches in terms of scope, aim, eligibility, or animal species involved have been described [ 32 ]. In this regard, dogs and horses are the most common therapy animal [ 18 , 33 ], but equine-assisted activities or therapies usually requires that the participant go to a specific facility where the horses are, thus the applicability in the prison context is reduced.…”