The involvement of animals in the management of delinquency among children with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) signs is common. The initial occurrences were cited towards the end of the 18th century when inclusion of animals was conducted in some mental health institutions to enhance socialization and interaction among the sick (Chumley, 2012). Currently, most intervention programs within the U.S. report the incorporation of animals in a number of their services. The interventions target individuals who have undergone extreme trauma, comprising those people with posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD). Although much media attention has been given in the support of these programs, it is not yet clear whether appropriate intervention programs for mitigating delinquency among foster children with PTSD exist in Jacksonville, Florida owing to several cases which have been experienced in the recent past ( American Psychiatric Association, 2013 ). Hence, the purpose of this analysis is to create an Animal-Assisted Program (AAP) that may assist in rebuilding social bonds and containing negative behaviors among foster children with posttraumatic stress disorder signs in Jacksonville, Florida.
Overview of the Proposed Animal-Assisted Program (AAP)
Animal-Assisted Program can be perceived as an intervention that incorporates an animal as a component of the process. The proposed intervention program will involve domesticated cats and dogs. It involves aimed therapeutic interventions with certain animals, engagement of trained animals to help with daily assignments, and less structured involvement with animals in most activities (Fine & Beck, 2010). The application of AAP has been linked to promising results in most populations, incorporating strengthened social interactions among juveniles with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), enhanced social behaviors, and limited agitation among individuals with dementia, and lowered symptoms among persons with depression. It also involves enhanced emotional well-being of individuals such as contained fear and anxiety. In this regard, the proposed animal-assisted program can provide value to the management of delinquency among juveniles with posttraumatic stress disorders in almost similar ways.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Overview of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Posttraumatic stress disorder is regarded as the anxiety disorder, which exhibits the symptoms of avoidance, intrusion, and negative changes in reactivity, arousal, and mood. It has been approximated to influence about 8 percent of the U.S. population and can result in social impairment and significant work (Fine & Beck, 2010). PTSD is a hard disorder to treat, as most pieces of evidence show that the cases of non-response as well as dropouts rise to a level high of 52 percent in researches of empirically sustained treatments ( American Psychiatric Association, 2013 ). Among the most successful treatments in a study, exposure therapy is barely conducted by therapists because of its perceived rate of discomfort and difficulty to most patients. Therefore, identifying and assessing alternatives as well as corresponding therapies has been suggested crucial.
Anecdotal evidence purports that the use of animals may give unique components to address most PTSD symptoms. Concerning the intrusion, the engagement of an animal is perceived to function as a comforting prompt that there is no more danger (Chumley, 2012). It also functions as a reminder to safety under the prevailing circumstance.
Individuals with posttraumatic usually engage in deviant behaviors. Behavioral perspective draws references to the labeling theory in examining deviant behaviors among individuals. The labeling theory asserts that an individual assumes deviant behavior because the society perceives and labels them to be so (Franzese, 2015). This means that a person may become deviant since one’s interactive peers tend to brand him/her with such identity. The interactive groups or individuals label and stigmatized such individual (Whitehead & Lab, 2014). Hence, the corresponding effect is one that influences the behavior of the person in some negative way. The labeled and stigmatized individual is eventually traumatized and assumes behavior that contravenes that established societal norms.
Both children and adults with posttraumatic stress disorder usually experience emotional freezing, but the existence of an animal within the vicinity of such an individual has been cited to bring out warmth and attractive emotions. Animals are also presented as social facilitators that interactively engage with people and lessen loneliness (Fine & Beck, 2010). The approach is desirable since it can help individuals with signs of posttraumatic stress disorders to disengage from isolation and interact with other human beings within their surroundings.
Among the most challenging attributes of posttraumatic stress disorders have been linked to hyper-arousal. The existence of an animal around a human being has been associated with oxytocin secretion and lessening of anxious arousal that can be a specifically prominent attribute for persons who have suffered trauma (Fine & Beck, 2010). Notwithstanding the theoretical promise of animal intervention programs and their popularization through studies and anecdotal media, adequate animal-assisted program (AAP) intervention is still absence to assist in mitigating delinquency among foster children with PTSD signs in Jacksonville, Florida.
Study Population
The intervention aims to cover juvenile delinquency among foster children with signs of posttraumatic stress disorders in Jacksonville, Florida since PTSD cases in the US are currently on the rise, standing at approximately 8 percent. Besides, cases of juvenile have been cited to be on the rise in Jacksonville, Florida and thus the justification for the adoption and implementation of the proposed animal-assisted program (AAP) of intervention to mitigate the pandemic.
Delinquency cases are dominant among foster children in Jacksonville, Florida because of the rising cases of a crime of sex abuse that expose them to risky and traumatizing conditions. Evidence from American Psychiatric Association (2013) reports that foster children are often abused and go through the severe emotional trauma that exposes them to the extreme risk of injury or even death.
The animal-assisted program intervention proposed for this area would include canine-assisted therapy as well as dog-assisted therapy. The inclusion of dogs and cats in the intervention program is deemed beneficial because most family households domesticate these animals as their pets. The pets are known to have socialization with individuals, irrespective of the levels of training the animals have had previously.
Anticipated Outcomes of the Proposed AAP Intervention Program
The integration of cats and dogs in the animal-assisted program (AAP) is aimed to produce successful results on foster children who have been traumatized. The introduction of the intervention at Jacksonville, Florida is expected to cut down the level of depression among the foster children with signs of posttraumatic stress disorder. Reduction in the levels of anxiety and depression among the targeted population may be linked to positive perceptions of cats and dogs. Evidence reveals that the presence of a cat or dog next to a traumatized child invokes some feeling of warmth and laughter (Chumley, 2012). The same observation motivates them to engage with their peers and interact with adults positively. In such a condition, the children are more than willing to play and listen to what adults say. They take instructions easily and avoid any form of delinquency.
The intervention will successfully contain the symptom severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among the foster children. Suppression in the level of depression can be linked to alterations in the PTSD symptoms and negative changes in mood as well as severe alterations in cognition. Furthermore, the AAP intervention seeks to change the symptoms of reactivity as well as arousal that may be associated with the outcomes of lessened anxiety following the implementation of the intervention. American Psychiatric Association (2013) cites that the presence of pets reduces the level of anxiety among the individuals who had experienced trauma previously. The lessening of arousal can be linked to the fact that children derive comfort when they get into soft contact while stroking their pets.
The AAP intervention program intends to document various findings based on the levels of interaction and the nature of activity with each cat or dog. For example, it may be realized that children’s interaction with cats lead to significant results if the pets were engaged in the therapy setup ( Fine & Beck, 2010) . The activity may comprise narrating stories from the cat’s perspective, instead of being merely available during the interactive sessions.
The design of the intervention incorporates the testing of variable treatment elements such as the program activities and pet species. For example, the variables will include treatment format for the individual foster child or groups of foster children (Chumley, 2012). It will also incorporate the type of contact such as stroking a cat or observing a cat. The final variable will comprise the nature of activity such telling stories or be singing in the perspective of a cat or a dog. Nonetheless, the intervention will incorporate the crucial factor of assessment at every stage of the program development. For example, the intervention will go through piloting at the initial stages. The piloting will be conducted before the full rollout of the intervention program.
Conclusion
Foster children are exposed to the challenges of sex abuse and harassment that render them vulnerable to depression. They react unruly to situations because of stress and labels forced on them by some individuals of the society. The problem is dominant in Jacksonville, Florida (USA), where the prevalence rate of posttraumatic stress disorder has hit a high margin of 8 percent. The situation is so worse that appropriate intervention mechanism has been proposed and devise, and hence the recommendation for the design and adoption of the animal-assisted program (AAP) intervention.
References
American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th Ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
Chumley, PR. (2012). Historical Perspectives of the Human-Animal Bond within the Department of Defense. US Army Medical Department Journal, 18-20.
Fine, A.H., & Beck, A. (2010). Understanding our Kinship with Animals: Input for Health
Care Professionals Interested in the Human/Animal Bond. In Fine, A., Handbook on
Animal-Assisted Therapy: Theoretical Foundations and Guidelines for Practice (3-17).
United States of America: Elsevier.
Franzese, R. (2015). The sociology of deviance (2nd Ed.) . Springfield: Charles C Thomas Publishing Limited
Whitehead, J. & Lab, S. (2014). Juvenile justice (7th Ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier Inc.
