Prison Dog-Training Programs: A Jungian Perspect

Abstract

Prisons in the United States are implementing prison dog-training programs (PDPs) in whichincarcerated people take care of and train canines for a variety of service-oriented tasks andpurposes. It is striking that these PDPs report successful outcomes within a prison system whereeffective and cost-efficient rehabilitation programs are often lacking. One of the most intriguingaspects of PDPs is the undeniably positive influences they provide for incarcerated persons’mental and behavioral health, even though these programs were not necessarily designed toproduce specific therapeutic outcomes. PDPs have also been shown to initiate a process ofindividual transformation and reduce recidivism. This hermeneutic phenomenological study useda depth psychological framework to understand the lived experience of incarcerated trainersthrough a Jungian conceptualization emerging directly from the incarcerated trainers’ ownwords. The findings of this study support a rehabilitative approach to corrections, as they suggestthat programs such as PDPs activate a process of genuine psychological transformation thatoffers a renewal of the personality through meaning, purpose, and loving connections, bothwithin the prison itself and in the greater community. From a Jungian perspective, thistransformation of identity is consistently constellated in PDPs through the living archetypalpattern inherent in the ancient human–canine bond, with the dog acting as a living symbol oftransformation that guides the individuation process.