Criminal Behavior In Prison

Running head: CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR IN A CONSTRUCTIVE PROGRAM IN A PRISON 1

Criminal Behavior in a Prison Based on Human-Animal Interaction

Running head: CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR IN A CONSTRUCTIVE PROGRAM IN A PRISON 2

Criminal Behavior in a Prison Based on Human-Animal Interaction There are many programs in prisons that are offered to inmates in order to transform them into more progressive beings. The general idea behind this is to change the inmate into a positive, hard-working person so that when they are released back into society they are able to make that transition smoothly and are able to contribute their services to the community. This paper will review previously conducted research on criminal behavior in a constructive
program inside of a prison. The researchers were Foumier, Geller, and Fortney (2007) and they examined the outcomes of criminal behavior in a human to animal program while still in prison. They wanted to find out if a constructive program with animals involved could change an inmate for the better and improve their social skills as well as their criminal behavior. In their experiment, they followed a program where local animal shelters would give their animals to the prison for the prisoners to foster and train them to later be given back to the shelters and put up for adoption. They called this experiment the human-animal interaction or HAI for short (Foumier, Geller, & Fortney 2007). The participants used in the study were 48 male inmates from a minimum security institution in Virginia. These inmates were selected by means of volunteers. The program itself was accepting of those who were nominated by the correctional staff and had about three months left in their incarceration services. The investigators made sure to eliminate those inmates with vicious sex offenses, abduction, or assault in their files. A majority of the participants in this study were Caucasian (63%). A small percentage of the participants chose not to state their cultural origin (3.7%), while Native Americans (1.9%), Hispanics (5.6%), and African-Americans (25.9%) made up the rest of the sample. The participants used had the age of
Running head: CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR IN A CONSTRUCTIVE PROGRAM IN A PRISON 3

around their early twenties (21 years) to their late forties (46 years).
These individuals were educated and they chose those who had completed or nearly completed high school (Grade 11- Grade 12) within a span of a little more of ten years (15 years). They used 24 of these inmates in a controlled group while the other 24 were part of the treatment group. Those in the controlled group were on the waiting list to get into the program whereas to those in the treatment group were in the program being documented upon. The examiners gave those in the treatment group two types of test, the pretest and the posttest for when they began and left the program. The inmates were expected to give self-reports about themselves on a scale of 1-5 where one would be feeling bad with low self-esteem while five would be feeling excellent with splendid self-esteem. They were monitored regularly and would have their files checked by the investigators to monitor their criminal behavior and be verified by correctional staff. In the study phase no inconsistencies were noted (Foumier, Geller, & Fortney 2007). After the experiment, the investigators found that the treatment group compared with the controlled group had reported higher scores on the self-reported assessments which led examiners to believe that this indicated improved psychosocial effectiveness. In criminal behavior those in the treatment group showed noticeable far fewer infractions (0-2) than from their controlled counterparts. Also to add on that the treatment groups social skills increased as well. The treatment program that was already at the prison was impacted positively by the HAI
program.

Running head: CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR IN A CONSTRUCTIVE PROGRAM IN A PRISON 4

References
Foumier, Angela K., Geller, E Scott., Fortney, Elizabeth V. (2007) Human-animal interaction in a prison behavior, treatment progress, and social skills. Behavior and Social Issues, (1), 89-105. doi: http://search.proquest.com/docview/229327568?accountid=38876

Washburn, Jason J., Teplin, Linda A., Voss, Laurie S., Simon, Clarissa D., Abram, Karen M.
(2008) Psychiatric Disorders among detained youths: a comparison of youths processed in juvenile court and adult criminal court. Psychiatric Services, 59 (9), 965-973. doi: http://search.proquest.com/docview/213107959