The use of animals to support individuals’ well-being has been documented across a variety of disciplines. It has been over a decade since dogs have also started to be used within the criminal justice setting in America to support vulnerable people, but this practice is not common in the United Kingdom. Globally, empirical evidence to support the benefits of utilizing dogs within the criminal justice system is lacking. The present interdisciplinary study aimed to explore one aspect of the criminal justice journey, the impact a therapy dog can have on UK court users waiting to give evidence at a magistrate’s court. One hundred and seventeen court users and eight court staff were interviewed to explore their perceptions of a therapy dog service offered at a local magistrate’s court. Using thematic analysis, three main themes were discovered: (1) context of the court environment, (2) effect of the therapy dog on well-being, and (3) issues relating to therapy dogs in court waiting areas. Results suggest that therapy dogs have a number of benefits to court users. Long-term, the human–canine interaction positively translates into the court waiting room environment, and so it should be further explored, evaluated, and then appropriately implemented in the UK’s legal system.

中文翻译：

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在候诊室使用治疗犬来支持法庭使用者

使用动物来支持个人的福祉已被记录在各种学科中。十多年来，美国的刑事司法环境中也开始使用狗来支持弱势群体，但这种做法在英国并不常见。在全球范围内，缺乏支持在刑事司法系统中使用狗的好处的经验证据。目前的跨学科研究旨在探索刑事司法之旅的一个方面，即治疗犬对等待在地方法院作证的英国法院用户可能产生的影响。一百一十七名法院用户和八名法院工作人员接受了采访，以探讨他们对当地地方法院提供的治疗犬服务的看法。使用主题分析，发现了三个主要主题：(1) 法庭环境的背景，(2) 治疗犬对健康的影响，以及 (3) 与法庭等候区的治疗犬有关的问题。结果表明，治疗犬对法庭使用者有许多好处。从长远来看，人与犬的互动会积极转化为法庭候诊室环境，因此应进一步探索、评估，然后在英国的法律体系中适当实施。