Fifteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

As both an interdisciplinary and applied social science, criminology incorporates various arenas of academic study and practical approaches to addressing societal concerns like offender reentry. This research examines how undergraduate students across majors reflect on their learning in a community-based, university-designated “transformational learning opportunity” (TLO) criminology course in which they were involved with a canine-inmate rehabilitation program. The first anticipated outcome from the course was that students would question their assumptions about incarcerated offenders and the role of rehabilitation. The second was that they would appreciate the needs of at-risk and incarcerated individuals and how they can benefit from innovative rehabilitation programming with canines. Students spent time at three different minimum-to-medium security correctional facilities and engaged with male participants in the canine-inmate rehabilitation program. These interactions facilitated students’ investment in participants’ experiences, particularly in terms of the emotional and psychological impacts of the program. Through Reflective Journals submitted at regular intervals, students applied five phases of a reflection cycle to an experiential event, question or type of self-knowledge. All ten students completed five journal entries. The results of this study are derived from a qualitative content analysis of the 50 total entries, with particular attention to the alignment of reflection with expected outcomes (or lack thereof), additional emergent facets of reflection, and abilities to link reflection with action.