The Behavioral Code: The Hidden Ways the Law Makes Us Better . or Worse

by Benjamin van Rooij

There are now hundreds of dog-training programs in US prisons and also many similar programs around the globe. The puppy training programs also have another important potential benefit: they could enhance the person’s self-control. The programs are only open to inmates who have followed the rules and behaved well for a period of time. Even after getting a puppy, they have to stay out of trouble or risk losing their dog. And this has had remarkable effects. As one person told researchers: “One of the reasons I stayed out of trouble was so that I could get a dog.”46 One study found that training the dogs made inmates more willing and able to take responsibility for their actions and to become more patient. As another inmate told a researcher: “I got angry with [my dog] . . . but all I could do was sit down and count to ten, because I refuse to be anything else but loving to him.”