Does animal-assisted therapy affect parenting among women incarcerated due to addiction?

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TOPIC: SELECTION: FINAL TOPIC SELECTION EXAMPLE

Topic Selection: Final Topic Selection Example

Student Name

Department of Counselor Education and Family Studies,

Author Note

Student Name

I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Student Name

Email:

Topic Selection: Final Topic Selection Example

Final Topic of Interest:

Addiction: Does animal-assisted therapy affect parenting among women incarcerated due to addiction?

MFT: Does animal-assisted therapy affect parenting among women incarcerated and with a family?

Gap Statement: “With a significant number of children in the US with incarcerated parents, there is a need for evidence-based treatment to help incarcerated mothers re-establish health relationships with their children (Collica-Cox & Day, 2022, p. 609).

Reference

Collica-Cox, K., & Day, G. J. (2022). When dogs make the difference: Jail-based parenting with

and without animal-assisted therapy. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 33(6), 608-638. https://doi.org/10.1177/08874034211063455

This article explores the idea of animal assisted therapy (AAT) for incarcerated women to help them reestablish a relationship with their children. The study concluded that there is encouraging evidence that AAT improves the parent and child relationship.

Variables To Be Measured (If Quantitative Example)

State which proposed experimental design to support question (experimental, quasi-experimental, correlational). Briefly state rationale for chosen design.

This study will use animal assisted therapy as the independent variable and parenting as the dependent variable.

**Note the example below is not related to this quantitative paper, but is a simple example of what a qualitative Final Topic Selection will look like:

Research Strategy (If Qualitative Example)

State which proposed descriptive design to support question (phenomenological or grounded). Briefly state rationale for chosen design.

A phenomenology approach would be most appropriate in answering the research question because the researcher is exploring the lived experience of working mothers in the medical field.

Cultural Consideration

The term parenting can have different meaning among various cultures and families. I need to be aware of the possible cultural differences as well as possible differences for family make-up regarding who might be caring for the children of women that are incarcerated.

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COUC 515

Topic Selection: Final Topic Selection Assignment Instructions

Overview

In the Topic Selection: Find a Gap Assignment, you highlighted three topics of interest, identifying a “researchable idea,” building on the previous literature. In this assignment, you will heed the feedback of your professor to narrow down the topic for your Benchmark Research Proposal Assignment. Please make sure for Addiction Counseling students to focus your final topic selection on addiction and the individual; and for MFT Counseling students to focus your final topic selection on systemic counseling, such as with couples or families.

Instructions

1. After THOROUGHLY reviewing the feedback given by your professor regarding your three topic selections , use the most “researchable topic” to work on for your Research Proposal Paper Assignment. Resubmit the Topic Selection, heeding ALL feedback given, in the same format as Part 1.

2. In addition to heeding feedback and editing as needed, if your study will be quantitative (meaning, you will be measuring variables), identify the proposed design and variables that can be measured. A simple example would be if you are studying the level depression in adolescents after conducting the intervention of mindfulness strategies, then you would identify depression as the dependent variable and mindfulness strategies as the independent variable.

3. In addition to heeding feedback and editing as needed, if your study will be qualitative (meaning, you are exploring an experience and not measuring variables), identify which design and qualitative research strategy might fit best with your research question (see Ch. 16 in the Heppner et al. text).

Note: Your assignment should not have more than one topic listed, should have with one gap statement, and the variables listed (if quantitative)/research strategy (if qualitative).

4. One important area of conducting research is to consider any cultural influences that might occur within the research process. After reading Chapter 9 in your textbook, identify one cultural consideration in researching your population of interest.

5. Assignment should be no more than two pages and double spaced in current APA format (excluding the title page). It will reflect the same format as Topic Selection: Find a Gap Assignment.

An example paper is provided.

Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.

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Topic Selection: Final Topic Selection

Department of Counselor Education and Family Studies,

Author Note I have no known conflict of interest to disclose. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to

Topic Selection: Final Topic Selection

Final Topic of Interest:

Addiction: Do peer recovery support treatments like SMART Recovery and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) have long-term abstinence in alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients with comorbid mental disorders?

Gap Statement: “Greater knowledge about who may affiliate with these MHOs (or not) may help inform future MHO matching and clinical referrals and provide insights into which types of organizations are likely to be attractive and engaging to which types of individuals” (Kelly et al., 2023, p. 1936).

Reference

Kelly, J. F., Fallah-Sohy, N., Cristello, J., Stout, R. L., Jason, L. A., Hoeppner, B. B., Bergman, B. G., & White, W. L. (2023). Who affiliates with SMART Recovery? A comparison of individuals attending SMART Recovery, Alcoholics Anonymous, both, or neither. Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, 47(10), 1928–1939. https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.15164

Kelly et al. compared demographic and clinical characteristics of SMART Recovery, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), both, or neither user on their initial foray into recovery. Findings indicated that individuals selecting SMART Recovery reported greater psychosocial stability on baseline than those who were in AA. The study indicates a significant knowledge gap in the field of sustainability of participation and outcomes over time. The authors speculate that the cognitive-behavioral SMART Recovery model, while useful for some, may be a challenge for patients with co-occurring disorders impacting cognitive and affective functioning. To address these questions, the study did recommend longitudinal studies to evaluate the long-term utility of such programs and to further clarify the process of patient-program matching for recovery on a continuous basis.

Variables To Be Measured (Quantitative Example)

This study will employ a quasi-experimental design. This approach is ideal for measuring program effect in naturalistic clinical practice where random assignment between conditions is neither ethically nor practically possible.

Independent variable: Type of peer recovery support program (e.g., SMART Recovery, AA, both, or neither). Dependent variables: Rates of sustained abstinence (e.g., as reported over 12-24 months). Rates and severity of relapse. Quality of life indicators (e.g., as reported using a standardized measure).

Cultural Considerations

Entry into and the effectiveness of recovery support programs are strongly affected by culture. For instance, the spiritually rooted origin of AA may be especially attractive to members of certain religious groups (e.g., Christian or Indigenous) yet less attractive to secular or atheistic communities for whom SMART Recovery may be more appropriate. Socioeconomic status is likewise a potential barrier; SMART Recovery's appeal to highly educated, middle-class groups may unintentionally make minority or low-income groups inaccessible on the basis of stigma, language, or lack of access to transportation. Furthermore, in collectivist cultures (e.g., Hispanic, Asian), family involvement is typically a mandatory part of the recovery process, a part of the process that may not be a priority within standard peer support models.

FEEDBACK I hope that you are doing great! I started to grade your assignment but had to stop as I tried to look up the gap statement on the article that you are using and cannot match up a gap statement with the page number given. I looked and looked. 

Please review the article and make the corrections so that I can review it. Then resubmit your assignment and send me a message when you have resubmitted it. 

Let me know if you have any questions, OK?

Blessings!

at Thu Sep 4, 2025 7:35pmat Thu Sep 4, 2025 7:35pm

Also, please note that the page numbers need to come from a PDF of the article. 

Thanks!

 at Thu Sep 4, 2025 8:06pmat Thu Sep 4, 2025 8:06pm

Oops, I forgot to mention. I put a "1" in each grading section as a placeholder until you get back to me and I can grade your paper. 

Blessings!

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