Constructing more-than-human therapeutic landscapes: A multispecies ethnography of the relationship between humans and animals at a care farm
This research aimed to seek a deeper understanding of the relationship between animals and humans at a therapeutic care farm. A multispecies ethnography approach was used to understand care, collaboration and well-being between different actors such as professionals, young clients and animals. This qualitative study concerns young clients, aged ten to eighteen, who either live at the farm or regularly visit, as well as professionals working at the care farm. Data was obtained through volunteering, participant observation, partaking in coaching sessions and three qualitative interviews.
This research shows that treatment, at the care farm, does not necessarily mean getting progressively better at something. Treatment and care at the farm is guided by a relational approach and not by medical indications. Furthermore, by centering experiences of humans who are part of a therapeutic bond with an animal, this study contributed to a better understanding of how therapeutic landscapes and therapeutic human-animal bonds can be shaped and maintained. As a result, most clients who visit the farm do so for daytime activities and the environment, and not to participate in therapeutic sessions.
This research demonstrated that therapy animals are inextricably linked to the broader environment of the care farm, and that therapy goes beyond scheduled therapeutic sessions and how animal-assisted interventions are commonly described. In conclusion, this research contributes to the existing literature about therapeutic landscapes. There are multiple ways of doing ‘good’ care and everyone has their own notions of what ‘good’ is, which complicates how care is negotiated. This multispecies or more-than-human therapeutic landscape is an example of how ‘good’ care is negotiated between different actors and how different dilemmas come into play.
Constructing more-than-human therapeutic landscapes: A multispecies ethnography of the relationship between humans and animals at a care farm
This research aimed to seek a deeper understanding of the relationship between animals and humans at a therapeutic care farm. A multispecies ethnography approach was used to understand care, collaboration and well-being between different actors such as professionals, young clients and animals. This qualitative study concerns young clients, aged ten to eighteen, who either live at the farm or regularly visit, as well as professionals working at the care farm. Data was obtained through volunteering, participant observation, partaking in coaching sessions and three qualitative interviews.
This research shows that treatment, at the care farm, does not necessarily mean getting progressively better at something. Treatment and care at the farm is guided by a relational approach and not by medical indications. Furthermore, by centering experiences of humans who are part of a therapeutic bond with an animal, this study contributed to a better understanding of how therapeutic landscapes and therapeutic human-animal bonds can be shaped and maintained. As a result, most clients who visit the farm do so for daytime activities and the environment, and not to participate in therapeutic sessions.
This research demonstrated that therapy animals are inextricably linked to the broader environment of the care farm, and that therapy goes beyond scheduled therapeutic sessions and how animal-assisted interventions are commonly described. In conclusion, this research contributes to the existing literature about therapeutic landscapes. There are multiple ways of doing ‘good’ care and everyone has their own notions of what ‘good’ is, which complicates how care is negotiated. This multispecies or more-than-human therapeutic landscape is an example of how ‘good’ care is negotiated between different actors and how different dilemmas come into play.
