Many animal-interaction programs in prison involve training support dogs for people in the community. Usually, training these dogs is expensive and unsuccessful but in prisons the results for the dogs are promising. Compared to 50% of the dogs trained by the general population being found fit to move on for further training, 87% of dogs trained in prisons met this criterion (Harkrader, Burke & Owen, 2004). These success rates are, in part, due to the extensive amount of time that the inmates can spend with the animals. The connection that this time allows the inmates to make with the dogs is a key aspect of the animal-interaction program’s rehabilitative nature.
Many inmates who have participated have noted that their connection with the …show more content…
This can cause them to migrate back to their criminal actions that landed them in prison in the first place. Many inmates come from broken homes, bad schools and possible abuse. “For these men and women, the opportunity to obtain a college education while incarcerated may be the first glimmer of hope that they can escape the cycles of poverty and violence that have dominated their lives” (Erisman & Contrado, 2005). The RAND Corporation conducted a meta-analysis of prison education programs and found that those prisoners who participated were 13 percent more likely to find employment than those who did not participate (Davis, 2014). Education can also be an opportunity for prisoners to improve their self-esteem. Loretta Taylor a dean of two state prisons comments “Many students who enroll in our programs begin to see themselves as college students, capable of something better for themselves and they realize a much different future involving work, education and caring for their families. They begin to see themselves as students, not as convicts” (Taylor, …show more content…
One survey taken at an Indiana prison showed a 75 percent decrease in infractions committed by prisoners taking college classes compared to those who do not participate (Taylor 1994). Education programs have also been shown to save the taxpayers money. For every one dollar spend on education in prison, five dollars would be save in reincarceration costs
Many inmates who have participated have noted that their connection with the …show more content…
This can cause them to migrate back to their criminal actions that landed them in prison in the first place. Many inmates come from broken homes, bad schools and possible abuse. “For these men and women, the opportunity to obtain a college education while incarcerated may be the first glimmer of hope that they can escape the cycles of poverty and violence that have dominated their lives” (Erisman & Contrado, 2005). The RAND Corporation conducted a meta-analysis of prison education programs and found that those prisoners who participated were 13 percent more likely to find employment than those who did not participate (Davis, 2014). Education can also be an opportunity for prisoners to improve their self-esteem. Loretta Taylor a dean of two state prisons comments “Many students who enroll in our programs begin to see themselves as college students, capable of something better for themselves and they realize a much different future involving work, education and caring for their families. They begin to see themselves as students, not as convicts” (Taylor, …show more content…
One survey taken at an Indiana prison showed a 75 percent decrease in infractions committed by prisoners taking college classes compared to those who do not participate (Taylor 1994). Education programs have also been shown to save the taxpayers money. For every one dollar spend on education in prison, five dollars would be save in reincarceration costs