Animal-assisted activities in a halfway facility:A case study

[摘要] ENGLISH SUMMARY: The female correctional population has increased dramatically over the last decade and continues to grow annually. Females on parole, including those in halfway facilities, face a variety of socio-economic, -environmental, and –political issues that have the potential to severely inhibit successful reintegration. High recidivism rates signal a lack of post-incarceration support and transitional services, which indicate that rehabilitative needs are not being met. Despite this, offender rehabilitation receives little public attention or interest in South Africa. This necessitates the development and implementation of low-cost, practical, and innovative approaches to offender rehabilitation, thus facilitating this critical period of re-adjustment. Human-animal interaction (HAI) may be a case in point. Over the past several decades, a widespread awareness of the beneficial effects of HAI, including that which takes place in the context of animal-assisted activity (AAA), has emerged. Based on this growing interest, there is an increasing collection of literature that suggests that animal contact and interaction can provide significant physical, psychological, and social benefits for human well-being and functioning. The present research set out to explore the experience of AAA within the context of a halfway facility, with an emphasis on the female parolee's experience. It was designed to explore the female parolee's experience of the activity from three participant perspectives: (a) the female parolee's, (b) the house parent's, and (c) the Pets as Therapy volunteer's.A qualitative case-study design was implemented in order to achieve this aim. Semistructured interviews were conducted with four female parolees currently residing within a halfway facility located in a suburb of Cape Town. The two house parents employed by said halfway facility and a Pets as Therapy volunteer, who supervised AAA sessions held at the halfway facility, were also interviewed as supplementary sources of data.Upon completion of the interviews, the data was transcribed and analysed according to the principles of thematic analysis. Following thematic analysis, four themes emerged: the perceived benefits of AAA, participants' personal experiences of AAA, participants' reactions towards the visiting AAA dog, and the participant's perceptions Stellenbosch of the visiting AAA dog. These findings are largely supported by the existing literature surrounding this topic of investigation. The findings, however, also address a gap in the existing literature regarding the use of AAA as a support measure conducive to the successful reintegration of female parolees in South Africa.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University