FOR 10 years I have been teaching animal behaviour and conservation biology at the Boulder County Jail in Colorado. The course 鈥� part of the Jane Goodall Institute鈥檚 鈥� is one of the most popular in the jail. Inmates have to earn the right to enroll and they work hard to get in.
One reason the course is so popular is that many prisoners find it easier to connect with animals than with people, because animals don鈥檛 judge them. Many of the inmates had lived with dogs, cats and other companion animals who were their best friends. They trust and empathise with animals in ways they don鈥檛 with humans.
鈥淢any prisoners find it easier to connect with animals than with people鈥�
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Nonetheless, they retain a distorted view of how animals treat one another. The inmates have often had enough of 鈥渘ature red in tooth and claw鈥�: many lament that their own 鈥渁nimal behaviour鈥� is what got them into trouble in the first place. I teach that though there is competition and aggression in the animal kingdom, there is also a lot of cooperation, empathy, compassion and reciprocity. I explain that these behaviours are examples of 鈥渨ild justice鈥�, and this idea makes them rethink what it means to be an animal.
Many of the students yearn to build healthy relationships, and they find that the class helps them. I use examples of the social behaviour of group-living animals such as wolves as a model for developing and maintaining friendships among individuals who must work together for their own good and also for the good of the group.
It鈥檚 clear that science inspires the students: our exchanges rival those that I鈥檝e had in university classes. It also gives them hope. I know some students have gone back into education after their release while others have gone to work for humane societies or contributed time and money to conservation organisations. One went on to receive a master鈥檚 degree in nature writing.
Science and humane education help the inmates connect with values that they otherwise would not have done. It opens the door to understanding, trust, cooperation, community and hope. There鈥檚 a large untapped population of individuals to whom science could mean a lot, if only they could get exposure to it. The class helps me, too. I get as much out of it as the students and it has made me a better teacher on the outside.