“This place does a lot more than produce milk”: a reflexive thematic analysis of staff experiences of supporting prison dairy workers

Correctional practice has seen a proliferation of prison animal programmes over the last two decades, but scant attention has been paid to the impact of prison farm animal work. Five members of prison dairy farm staff in the UK were interviewed about their experiences of supporting prison workers, including their perceptions of its potential impact for supporting rehabilitation from offending. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify three overarching themes: the positive human-bovine relationship; strengthening interpersonal skills and intrapersonal benefits. This paper suggests that prison dairy work has the potential to support desistance from further offending by facilitating the transition towards a non-offending identity, cultivating and enabling compassionate behaviour, and improving wellbeing. Future research could include: an analysis of the recidivism data of prison farm livestock workers; qualitative explorations of prison livestock workers’ experiences (including those working with cows and other food/production animals); and research with a specific focus on the transferability of compassionate and caring attitudes towards self and others away from the farm setting. Findings from this exploratory study inform debate about the value and transferability of prison farm animal work and should be used to contribute to a larger body of work on this topic.