When Dogs Make the Difference: Jail-Based Parenting With and Without Animal-Assisted Therapy

• Author: George J. Day,Kimberly Collica-Cox
• DOI: 10.1177/08874034211063455
• Published date: 01 July 2022
• Date: 01 July 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/08874034211063455

Criminal Justice Policy Review

2022, Vol. 33(6) 608 –638

© The Author(s) 2021

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/08874034211063455

journals.sagepub.com/home/cjp

Article

When Dogs Make the

Difference: Jail-Based

Parenting With and Without

Animal-Assisted Therapy

Kimberly Collica-Cox1 and George J. Day2

Abstract

With 1.7 million children in the United States with an incarcerated parent, the need

to provide evidence-based programming, which helps incarcerated mothers re-

establish healthy relationships with their children, is essential. This study examines

Parenting, Prison, and Pups, a jail-based parenting course for incarcerated women,

integrated with the use of animal-assisted therapy (AAT). Utilizing a mixed-method

quasi-experimental design, the authors examined differences between mothers who

completed a parenting course with AAT, compared with those who completed the

same course without AAT; statistically significant lower rates of parental stress and

higher rates of self-esteem and parental knowledge among the AAT group were

found. Based on qualitative data, the presence of therapy dogs appeared to encourage

communication, trust, and connectedness between group members. These results

indicate the importance of using innovative tools to help incarcerated women, who

often have long histories of trauma and abuse, to develop healthy bonds with their

children.

Keywords

animal-assisted therapy, incarcerated mothers, rehabilitation, parenting, jails

“I was having such anxiety; couldn’t sleep. I’m not saying I was going to hurt myself but

when those pups came in. . .I’m just saying—it saved me” (MCC).

1Pace University, New York City, USA

2Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX, USA

Corresponding Author:

Kimberly Collica-Cox, Criminal Justice & Security Department, Pace University, 41 Park Row, Room

1126, New York, NY 10038, USA.

Email: kcollicacox@pace.edu

1063455CJPXXX10.1177/08874034211063455Criminal Justice Policy ReviewCollica-Cox and Day

research-article2021

Collica-Cox and Day 609

Introduction

It is often difficult for mothers to maintain contact with their children while incarcer-

ated (Greene, 2013). The separation between a mother and her child can contribute to

her depression, self-harming behavior, and an array of mental health issues (Jasperson,

2010; Keaveny & Zauszniewski, 1999). Correspondingly, children may experience

mental health problems, family instability, health issues, school failure, and increased

involvement in the criminal justice system (Aaron & Dallaire, 2010; Christian, 2009;

Mears & Siennick, 2016; Miller & Barnes, 2015; Purvis, 2013; Will et al., 2014).

Maintaining healthy bonds between mothers and children, however, can mitigate these

consequences (Purvis, 2013; Synder, 2009). With 1.7 million U.S. children having an

incarcerated parent (Glaze & Maruschak, 2008; Maruschak et al., 2010), it is impera-

tive that correctional facilities provide parenting programs, especially for mothers,

whose absence often has a devastating effect on the lives of her children (e.g., children

are relocated, there is increased child protective services involvement, and siblings are

often separated) (Gifford et al., 2020; Harm & Phillips, 2001). Since jailed women

receive fewer programs than jailed men, jails have an obligation to increase their gen-

der-specific services as the proportion of women with criminal justice involvement

continues to grow (Carson, 2020), especially when women tend to suffer from higher

rates of substance use, mental illness, physical ailments, and trauma-based pasts, in

comparison to their male counterparts (Clark, 2009; Collica-Cox & Fagin, 2018;

Collica-Cox & Furst, 2019; Jasperson, 2010). Jails also have a unique opportunity;

while their population is relatively transient, and incarceration stays are much shorter

when compared with those serving time in prison (25 days compared with 2.6 years)

(Zeng, 2018), incarcerated persons can learn skills that will be put into practice within

a very short time (Collica-Cox & Furst, 2019). Since jails often struggle with difficulty

implementing programming (e.g., short stays, lack of funding, and limited space), it is

necessary to focus their limited resources on programs, which are effective and inno-

vative (Collica-Cox & Fagin, 2018).

Animals are one innovative tool that can be used to increase the effectiveness of

established correctional programming and animal programs are used in correctional

facilities with great success (Allison & Ramaswamy, 2016; Furst, 2006; Kunz-Lomelin

& Nordberg, 2020). Symbiotic relationships develop between humans and animals

that can improve relationships with other people by encouraging empathy and growth.

Engaging with animals can help in the healing process, especially for incarcerated

women who have long histories of abuse or experience difficulties trusting others

because of dysfunctional relationships in childhood (Collica-Cox & Fagin, 2018;

Thomas & Matusitz, 2016). Combining an evidence-based parenting class with ani-

mal-assisted therapy (AAT) may increase the benefits of such programming for women

and their children. Research on the effects of parenting classes for incarcerated per-

sons is limited (Armstrong et al., 2017; Eddy et al., 2013; Hoffmann et al., 2010); the

same holds true for studies that examine the effects of AAT with correctional popula-

tions (Mulcahy & McLaughlin, 2013). There are little to no studies that examine

whether the two combined can beget beneficial outcomes. This study seeks to address