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Full-Text Articles in Animal Studies
The Question Of Animal Selves: Implications For Sociological Knowledge And Practice, Leslie Irvine
The Question Of Animal Selves: Implications For Sociological Knowledge And Practice, Leslie Irvine
Leslie Irvine, PhD
The question of whether sociologists should investigate the subjective experience of non-human others arises regularly in discussions of research on animals. Recent criticism of this research agenda as speculative and therefore unproductive is examined and found wanting. Ample evidence indicates that animals have the capacity to see themselves as objects, which meets sociological criteria for selfhood. Resistance to this possibility highlights the discipline’s entrenched anthropocentrism rather than lack of evidence. Sociological study of the moral status of animals, based on the presence of the self, is warranted because our treatment of animals is connected with numerous “mainstream” sociological issues. As …
A Moveable Beast: Subjective Influence Of Human-Animal Relationships On Risk Perception, And Risk Behaviour During Bushfire Threat, Joshua L. Trigg, Kirrilly Thompson, Bradley Smith, Pauleen Bennett
A Moveable Beast: Subjective Influence Of Human-Animal Relationships On Risk Perception, And Risk Behaviour During Bushfire Threat, Joshua L. Trigg, Kirrilly Thompson, Bradley Smith, Pauleen Bennett
The Qualitative Report
This article examines how human-animal connections influence risk perception and behaviour in companion animal guardians exposed to bushfire threat in Australia. Although the objective role of psychological bonds with companion animals is well accepted by researchers, subjective interpretations of these bonds by animal guardians are relatively underexamined in this context. We argue that the ways in which connections with pets and other animals are represented influences different forms of safety-risk perception and behaviour when managing animals’ safety in the face of disaster threat. Thematic analysis of 21 semi-structured interviews with South Australian residents in bushfire-affected areas supported the role of …
Wild Justice Redux: What We Know About Social Justice In Animals And Why It Matters, Jessica Pierce, Marc Bekoff
Wild Justice Redux: What We Know About Social Justice In Animals And Why It Matters, Jessica Pierce, Marc Bekoff
Marc Bekoff, PhD
Social justice in animals is beginning to attract interest in a broad range of academic disciplines. Justice is an important area of study because it may help explain social dynamics among individuals living in tightly- knit groups, as well as social interactions among individuals who only occasionally meet. In this paper, we provide an overview of what is currently known about social justice in animals and offer an agenda for further research. We provide working definitions of key terms, outline some central research questions, and explore some of the challenges of studying social justice in animals, as well as the …
Sociology And Anthrozoology: Symbolic Interactionist Contributions, Leslie Irvine
Sociology And Anthrozoology: Symbolic Interactionist Contributions, Leslie Irvine
Leslie Irvine, PhD
This essay examines the sociological contributions to anthrozoology, focusing on research from the United States that employs a symbolic interactionist perspective. In particular, the work of Arluke and Sanders highlights the importance of understanding the meanings that animals hold for people. Using a selective review of their research, this essay outlines how a focus on understanding meaning can inform anthrozoological research. Arluke’s research on animal abuse reveals how harm must be defined in context. Sanders’s research on canine–human relationships documents how people come to understand companion dogs as persons. Both bodies of work rely on careful observation and listening to …
Annotated Bibliography: Interaction With Animals (1998-2013), Erich Yahner
Annotated Bibliography: Interaction With Animals (1998-2013), Erich Yahner
Erich Yahner, MSLIS
No abstract provided.
Hsisp Annotated Bibliography: Interaction With Animals (1998-2013), Erich Yahner
Hsisp Annotated Bibliography: Interaction With Animals (1998-2013), Erich Yahner
Erich Yahner
No abstract provided.
Animal Pleasure And Its Moral Significance, Jonathan Balcombe
Animal Pleasure And Its Moral Significance, Jonathan Balcombe
Jonathan Balcombe, PhD
This paper presents arguments for, and evidence in support of, the important role of pleasure in animals’ lives, and outlines its considerable significance to humankind’s relationship to other animals. In the realms of animal sentience, almost all scholarly discussion revolves around its negative aspects: pain, stress, distress, and suffering. By contrast, the positive aspects of sentience – rewards and pleasures – have been rarely broached by scientists. Yet, evolutionary principles predict that animals, like humans, are motivated to seek rewards, and not merely to avoid pain and suffering. Natural selection favours behaviours that enhance survival and procreation. In the conscious, …
Wild Justice Redux: What We Know About Social Justice In Animals And Why It Matters, Jessica Pierce, Marc Bekoff
Wild Justice Redux: What We Know About Social Justice In Animals And Why It Matters, Jessica Pierce, Marc Bekoff
Ethology Collection
Social justice in animals is beginning to attract interest in a broad range of academic disciplines. Justice is an important area of study because it may help explain social dynamics among individuals living in tightly- knit groups, as well as social interactions among individuals who only occasionally meet. In this paper, we provide an overview of what is currently known about social justice in animals and offer an agenda for further research. We provide working definitions of key terms, outline some central research questions, and explore some of the challenges of studying social justice in animals, as well as the …
Sociology And Anthrozoology: Symbolic Interactionist Contributions, Leslie Irvine
Sociology And Anthrozoology: Symbolic Interactionist Contributions, Leslie Irvine
Human and Animal Bonding Collection
This essay examines the sociological contributions to anthrozoology, focusing on research from the United States that employs a symbolic interactionist perspective. In particular, the work of Arluke and Sanders highlights the importance of understanding the meanings that animals hold for people. Using a selective review of their research, this essay outlines how a focus on understanding meaning can inform anthrozoological research. Arluke’s research on animal abuse reveals how harm must be defined in context. Sanders’s research on canine–human relationships documents how people come to understand companion dogs as persons. Both bodies of work rely on careful observation and listening to …
Animal Pleasure And Its Moral Significance, Jonathan Balcombe
Animal Pleasure And Its Moral Significance, Jonathan Balcombe
Sentience Collection
This paper presents arguments for, and evidence in support of, the important role of pleasure in animals’ lives, and outlines its considerable significance to humankind’s relationship to other animals. In the realms of animal sentience, almost all scholarly discussion revolves around its negative aspects: pain, stress, distress, and suffering. By contrast, the positive aspects of sentience – rewards and pleasures – have been rarely broached by scientists. Yet, evolutionary principles predict that animals, like humans, are motivated to seek rewards, and not merely to avoid pain and suffering. Natural selection favours behaviours that enhance survival and procreation. In the conscious, …
The Question Of Animal Selves: Implications For Sociological Knowledge And Practice, Leslie Irvine
The Question Of Animal Selves: Implications For Sociological Knowledge And Practice, Leslie Irvine
Anthropomorphism and Anthropocentrism Collection
The question of whether sociologists should investigate the subjective experience of non-human others arises regularly in discussions of research on animals. Recent criticism of this research agenda as speculative and therefore unproductive is examined and found wanting. Ample evidence indicates that animals have the capacity to see themselves as objects, which meets sociological criteria for selfhood. Resistance to this possibility highlights the discipline’s entrenched anthropocentrism rather than lack of evidence. Sociological study of the moral status of animals, based on the presence of the self, is warranted because our treatment of animals is connected with numerous “mainstream” sociological issues. As …
The Problem Of Pain: What Do Animals Really Feel?, Dana H. Murphy
The Problem Of Pain: What Do Animals Really Feel?, Dana H. Murphy
Sentience Collection
Much of the contention and confusion that seem inevitably to arise whenever the subject of pain in animals comes up appear to stem principally from problems with the word "pain" itself. When used to describe responses in humans, "pain" can mean any subset of an incredibly broad spectrum of sensations and emotions, ranging from the instantaneous, galvanizing effect of a dentist drill hitting the nerve in a molar, to more airy notions such as the "pain" of rejection or "painfully" embarrassing situations. Humans even use concepts as abstruse as the German term, weltschmerz, or "world pain," which denotes a vaguely …