In 2019, we sat down with Patricia E. LaTaille, author of the book, Paws 4 Peace.

She tells about the book, how it has helped people in the criminal just system overcome their trauma, and what inspired her to write this book.

Join us and Patricia E. LaTaille for this interview at Book Haven in Salida, Colorado to hear what she has to say about this revolutionary book.

Why Did You Incorporate Therapy Dogs in Restorative Justice Practice?

Well, Paws 4 Peace is a program we have at Full Circle Restorative Justice and it’s located in Salida, Colorado.

Discomfort really begins to be evident once you’ve had the victim or the person who was harmed and then the offender, the person who did the harm, sit down together into what we call a restorative circle.

What we’ve discovered by including therapy dogs in the process, and also training their handlers to be restorative justice facilitators, is a deep understanding of how the restorative process works.

We’ve seen such a reduction in anxiety and a reduction in people who are really worried and scared to attend a circle. It’s initially very awkward for one person to meet the person who harmed them and for the other person to meet the person they harmed.

When we brought the dogs in, we saw such a difference in shifts in energy or diffusion of that level of tension. From there, the victim and the offender were able to relate to each other by petting the dogs and kind of talking about their own dogs.

It made the entire process of healing more comfortable and easier by having a dog in the actual circle, as well as in the pre-conferences before we actually bring the two parties together.

What is Restorative Justice?

Restorative Justice is a global social movement addressing harm and how we decide to resolve conflict.

We work primarily with individuals who have been harmed. I bring the individuals together into what’s called a restorative circle. We created a safe space for dialogue and have them share their perspectives and also how the situation impacted each of them.

It is not based on punishment as our traditional American-based penal system is. Our restorative justice system in the United States is actually based on, relationship, repair, and repairing the heart.

We do expect a level of accountability by the individual customer, whom we refer to as an offender. The individual who’s been harmed would like something positive to come out of the situation that was harmful to them.

When you have the two individuals and their family members supporting people, their community members, and the two sort of justice training facilitators, which usually happens in a circle, it’s very transformational.

We are able to really speak from the heart and gain a level of understanding and empathy throughout this process. The person who caused the harm or the offender can be willing to take steps to repair the harm.

The victim is able to get his or her needs met and has a voice in the situation of criminal justice.

About the Book Paws 4 Peace

Initially, the book was designed to focus on serving as a training manual for restorative justice practitioners. It is used as a tool to give an idea of how therapy dogs react.

Some react without hesitation due to distraction, or sense feelings of discomfort.

From here we bring a dog in to see what happens.

I realized that it’s full of information for restorative justice practitioners. It was written to give people insight to the restorative justice process, as well as to recognize and celebrate what it can bring into our lives.

We Use All Animals in Restorative Justice

We haven’t just had dogs. We’ve had a kitten passed around in a circle. We’ve had a bunny rabbit passed around in circles.

There are different paws included.

It’s fascinating to explore the human-animal bond, see how these amazing creatures really benefit our lives, what they bring to help humans get through some really challenging and difficult situations, especially in interacting with each other.

I brought in the scope of the book to include profiles of individuals and their canine companions that are involved in this kind of work. But also, I brought in the idea of people who are interested in the human-animal bond aspect.

I wanted to make this a book where people can celebrate peacebuilding with the power of Paws 4 Peace.

What Inspired You To Write Paws 4 Peace?

I was inspired because of my passion for two main things in my life, which would be sort of justice in which I’ve been working in a field for 13 years at this point, and also my love for animals in particular for dogs.

When I was in graduate school, my thesis was on the human-animal bond. I started working in the peace-building field, and I realized the therapeutic effects that animals. Particularly, in this case, dogs have positive benefits on high anxiety or court processes.

I thought to myself, well, what would make this easier?

Not only did therapy dogs make it easier for the person who was harmed or the person who did the harm and the individuals in the circle, but also for the facilitators, because it is not easy confronting the trauma. It is very awkward and uncomfortable bringing the victim together in the initial circle.

Bringing a dog into everything we did was revolutionary. We wanted to see if it was going to work because no one had done this before, as far as we know. It was kind of on-the-job training.

A Restorative Justice Story

We were figuring things out with the dogs.

The first circle we had was a young man and his mother who were diagnosed with anxiety disorders and they were meeting the victim, who they were terrified to meet. It turns out the victim and his wife were also dog lovers.

Not only did the dog work her magic, both the victim and offender saw positive outcomes. The dogs have this uncanny ability to get a sense of where they need to go or who isn’t in an emotional state that would need support.

What Are Pre-Conferences?

We started bringing them in and then realized if they’re in the circle, they’re bringing this much food, energy, and connection, we should actually start them out in the pre-conference.

Pre-conferences are how we set the stage and gain trust and rapport. Pre-conferences ease the inherent tension and anxiety as that can be part of the restorative circle.

Paws 4 Peace: Restorative Justice Practices

You can learn more about this wonderful book and purchase it for your trauma-related situations by visiting our shop.