Symbiosis in Animal-Assisted Interventions
A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Human-Animal Interactions, Animal Behaviour and Emotion".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 14 July 2024 | Viewed by 3553
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
You are invited to submit original manuscripts for this Special Issue of Animals titled “Symbiosis in Animal-Assisted Interventions.” The Special Issue will focus on the symbiotic nature of humans and other animals when participating in animal-assisted interventions. Symbiosis can be defined as a relationship between two organisms in which at least one of the organisms benefits. Animal-assisted interventions are designed to benefit humans, but how do they impact the animals? We welcome papers that examine a broad range of animal-assisted interventions, including but not limited to therapies (e.g., psychotherapy and hippotherapy), learning (e.g., education, personal development and coaching), and recreational activities (e.g., animal visiting programs). The purpose of the Special Issue is to examine benefits and costs to humans and animals involved in interventions. The literature has historically focused on human outcomes, with a more recent emphasis on therapy animal welfare. Yet, there is limited discussion of intervention processes and outcomes in the context of symbiosis, prompting the following question: are interventions mutualistic (both parties benefit) or parasitic (one benefits at the expense of the other)? Empirical studies that examine these benefits and costs to humans and animals are welcome, as are conceptual papers addressing or introducing theories or models of human–animal symbiosis.
Dr. Angela K. Fournier
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- symbiosis
- animal-assisted intervention
- human–animal interaction
- human–animal bond
- cost–benefit relationship
