Two UQ students are investigating whether puppies in prison can help reform inmates and improve the working lives of prison staff.
UQ postgraduate students Claire Eddie and Georgia Sakrzewski are following the progress of four pups delivered into the care of prisoners and staff at the low-security Darling Downs Correctional Centre.
Eight prisoners are raising and training the puppies in basic obedience for 16 months to become assistance dogs.
Assistance dogs are companions for people with disabilities and are often able to help open doors and retrieve
dropped objects.
Corrective Services introduced Pups In Prison last year in partnership with Assistance Dogs Australia to help inmates develop patience, compassion, self-regulation, communication skills and cooperation.
The program was officially launched by Minister for Police and Corrective Services Judy Spence at the Darling Downs Prison this morning.
Similar programs have been trialled in New South Wales and the United States, but Ms Eddie and Ms Sakrzewski said they believed they would be the first to measure the puppies’ impact on prisoners and staff.
Ms Eddie said they were interested in changes to the prisoners’ psychological wellbeing, criminal attitudes, loneliness and parenting skills and also the job satisfaction and workplace morale of prison staff.
She said the effect of the puppies would be evaluated by questionnaires, prison visits, feedback from correctional officers and face-to-face interviews with prisoners and staff.
Ms Eddie said the puppies lived with the prisoners but also had purpose-built kennels and home visits with prison staff.
UQ’s Centre for Companion Animal Health Director Professor Jacquie Rand said she expected the puppies would help rehabilitate prisoners and hoped the program would be expanded to other open security prisons.
Professor Rand said homeless dogs that needed retraining should also be trialled in a similar program.
Ms Eddie and Ms Sakrzewski are seeking sponsors to expand this work during the next four years.
UQ’s Centre for Companion Animal Health initiated the collaborative research project with UQ’s School of Psychology, Assistance Dogs of Australia and Queensland Corrective Services.
MEDIA: Professor Rand (0419 555 554) or Miguel Holland at UQ Communications (3365 2619)
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