Pub Date : 2021-02-02DOI: 10.1163/15685306-BJA10035
Elizabeth Johnson, Shelly Volsche
This research explores the impact of government-imposed social isolation orders on homes with companion animals. Data were collected April through May 2020, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey of 234 Americans observing social isolation orders included demographic questions; questions about relationships to other persons and companion animals within the home; and Likert-scale questions designed to probe the complexities of these relationships and their influences on perceived stress and isolation. We hypothesized that the presence of companion animals helps to mitigate stressors related to observing social isolation orders, with those living alone experiencing more benefit and homes with children experiencing less. The results suggest that the presence of companion animals alleviates stress and isolation by providing attachment figures and activities on which to focus one’s energy. These results support that companion animals are increasingly viewed as members of one’s family and provide social support during stressful life events.
{"title":"COVID-19: Companion Animals Help People Cope during Government-Imposed Social Isolation","authors":"Elizabeth Johnson, Shelly Volsche","doi":"10.1163/15685306-BJA10035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-BJA10035","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This research explores the impact of government-imposed social isolation orders on homes with companion animals. Data were collected April through May 2020, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey of 234 Americans observing social isolation orders included demographic questions; questions about relationships to other persons and companion animals within the home; and Likert-scale questions designed to probe the complexities of these relationships and their influences on perceived stress and isolation. We hypothesized that the presence of companion animals helps to mitigate stressors related to observing social isolation orders, with those living alone experiencing more benefit and homes with children experiencing less. The results suggest that the presence of companion animals alleviates stress and isolation by providing attachment figures and activities on which to focus one’s energy. These results support that companion animals are increasingly viewed as members of one’s family and provide social support during stressful life events.","PeriodicalId":22000,"journal":{"name":"Society & Animals","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49515122","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-26DOI: 10.1163/15685306-BJA10034
J. Schauer
Shrinking habitat, depleted prey sources, and hunting increase conflict between humans and jaguars in Latin America. Participant observation was used for 131 open-ended interviews in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor of Costa Rica to describe and provide recommendations for Panthera’s rancher outreach program. Changing husbandry practices is different than wanting to relocate jaguars or pumas, which suggests willingness to coexist is based on geo-physical proximities. Further, perceived attacks on livestock may be unreliable creating a perception of more predation, villainizing large felines, and challenging coexistence. This study urges wildlife managers to evaluate the effectiveness of relocation; suggests systematic recordkeeping of jaguar and puma attacks; encourages researchers to measure willingness to co-exist with large carnivores based on geo-physical distance; suggests strategies of coexistence may have both cultural and regional differences; and recommends a communication strategy through a citizen science approach, in order to educate ranchers and create social investment among communities.
{"title":"Willingness to Coexist with Jaguars and Pumas in Costa Rica","authors":"J. Schauer","doi":"10.1163/15685306-BJA10034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-BJA10034","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Shrinking habitat, depleted prey sources, and hunting increase conflict between humans and jaguars in Latin America. Participant observation was used for 131 open-ended interviews in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor of Costa Rica to describe and provide recommendations for Panthera’s rancher outreach program. Changing husbandry practices is different than wanting to relocate jaguars or pumas, which suggests willingness to coexist is based on geo-physical proximities. Further, perceived attacks on livestock may be unreliable creating a perception of more predation, villainizing large felines, and challenging coexistence. This study urges wildlife managers to evaluate the effectiveness of relocation; suggests systematic recordkeeping of jaguar and puma attacks; encourages researchers to measure willingness to co-exist with large carnivores based on geo-physical distance; suggests strategies of coexistence may have both cultural and regional differences; and recommends a communication strategy through a citizen science approach, in order to educate ranchers and create social investment among communities.","PeriodicalId":22000,"journal":{"name":"Society & Animals","volume":"1 1","pages":"1-21"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43111170","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-26DOI: 10.1163/15685306-BJA10032
Kristian Bjørkdahl, K. Syse
In this article, our starting point is that people who are plagued by the so-called meat paradox must find ways of making meat consumption safe from the realities of meat production. They do this by way of various mechanisms of denial, which obfuscate contemporary industrial meat production. We focus on how advertisements become one notable vehicle of such denial, and select three examples for close reading. Focusing on the rhetorical techniques employed in three Norwegian ads for meat and how they mediate meat production to consumers, we argue that these ads all present an image of meat producers as progressive and caring proponents of animal welfare. This leads us to suggest that they exemplify a variant of greenwashing that we dub “welfare washing”—the main message of which is to keep calm and carry on consuming meat.
{"title":"Welfare Washing: Disseminating Disinformation in Meat Marketing","authors":"Kristian Bjørkdahl, K. Syse","doi":"10.1163/15685306-BJA10032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-BJA10032","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000In this article, our starting point is that people who are plagued by the so-called meat paradox must find ways of making meat consumption safe from the realities of meat production. They do this by way of various mechanisms of denial, which obfuscate contemporary industrial meat production. We focus on how advertisements become one notable vehicle of such denial, and select three examples for close reading. Focusing on the rhetorical techniques employed in three Norwegian ads for meat and how they mediate meat production to consumers, we argue that these ads all present an image of meat producers as progressive and caring proponents of animal welfare. This leads us to suggest that they exemplify a variant of greenwashing that we dub “welfare washing”—the main message of which is to keep calm and carry on consuming meat.","PeriodicalId":22000,"journal":{"name":"Society & Animals","volume":" ","pages":"1-19"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46909206","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-08DOI: 10.1163/15685306-BJA10030
Gabriela Jarzebowska
Online videos of subway rats in New York and their media reception are examined in order to observe how they reflect sociocultural attitudes towards these non-human animals. It is argued that regardless of whether a particular video was purposefully staged as a hoax or whether its creators were convinced they were filming “true life,” virtually all these materials produce a deeply stereotypical vision of these animals and provide interpretations of their behaviors that conform to deep-seated cultural scripts and prejudices. Contemporary videos contribute to a long-enduring myth about rats that is deeply embedded in Western culture. They complement this myth with a new one that establishes rats as the ultimate urbanites who are granted individuality and extensively anthropomorphized.
{"title":"“Four-Legged Terror” or “Ultimate New Yorker”?: Urban Rat Videos and Their Media Reception","authors":"Gabriela Jarzebowska","doi":"10.1163/15685306-BJA10030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-BJA10030","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Online videos of subway rats in New York and their media reception are examined in order to observe how they reflect sociocultural attitudes towards these non-human animals. It is argued that regardless of whether a particular video was purposefully staged as a hoax or whether its creators were convinced they were filming “true life,” virtually all these materials produce a deeply stereotypical vision of these animals and provide interpretations of their behaviors that conform to deep-seated cultural scripts and prejudices. Contemporary videos contribute to a long-enduring myth about rats that is deeply embedded in Western culture. They complement this myth with a new one that establishes rats as the ultimate urbanites who are granted individuality and extensively anthropomorphized.","PeriodicalId":22000,"journal":{"name":"Society & Animals","volume":"1 1","pages":"1-20"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41400724","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-12-16DOI: 10.1163/15685306-bja10031
T. W. Whyke, M. Brown
In this article, we expand the scholarly investigation of the representation of nonhuman animals (henceforth, “animals”) in historic literature, specifically focusing upon Pu Songling’s Liaozhai Zhiyi [Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio]. This is partially a response to other scholars who argue that blurred boundaries between human and nonhuman in this genre challenge anthropocentrism by rendering humans and animals as basically the same. This point is often contextualized with reference to traditional Chinese philosophies including Daoism. Drawing upon various tales within Liaozhai, we explore the forms of ethical reciprocity that are enabled through shapeshifting; however, we trouble the assertion that blurred physical boundaries necessarily de-center the human. We argue that despite the fact that animals can become human and vice versa, Liaozhai depicts a natural world which privileges “becoming-human” and naturalizes “human virtues.”
{"title":"The Face of the Nonhuman: Human-Animal Encounters in Pu Songling’s Liaozhai Zhiyi","authors":"T. W. Whyke, M. Brown","doi":"10.1163/15685306-bja10031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-bja10031","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000In this article, we expand the scholarly investigation of the representation of nonhuman animals (henceforth, “animals”) in historic literature, specifically focusing upon Pu Songling’s Liaozhai Zhiyi [Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio]. This is partially a response to other scholars who argue that blurred boundaries between human and nonhuman in this genre challenge anthropocentrism by rendering humans and animals as basically the same. This point is often contextualized with reference to traditional Chinese philosophies including Daoism. Drawing upon various tales within Liaozhai, we explore the forms of ethical reciprocity that are enabled through shapeshifting; however, we trouble the assertion that blurred physical boundaries necessarily de-center the human. We argue that despite the fact that animals can become human and vice versa, Liaozhai depicts a natural world which privileges “becoming-human” and naturalizes “human virtues.”","PeriodicalId":22000,"journal":{"name":"Society & Animals","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2020-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49580117","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-12-10DOI: 10.1163/15685306-00001542
Eleonora Colombo, F. Manti, Luca Milani, Daniele Bernardini
The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of nine weekly sessions of Donkey-Assisted Therapy (DAT) on the functional status of 37 adults with an intellectual disability (ID) and to analyze the moderator role of the duration of sessions on the expected positive outcomes. A new tool based on the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF) was employed to measure functional changes in subjects undergoing DAT. The tool was administered at three different times (T0, T1, T2) by health care professionals and instructors who rated participants’ performance during DAT. Findings showed a significant improvement in the psycho-social functioning of patients undergoing DAT, especially for participants provided with longer sessions. The results of this study provide further evidence that DAT may be considered as a suitable therapeutic option for people with ID.
{"title":"Assessing the Effects of Donkey-Assisted Therapy on Adults with Intellectual Disabilities Using the ICF Framework","authors":"Eleonora Colombo, F. Manti, Luca Milani, Daniele Bernardini","doi":"10.1163/15685306-00001542","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-00001542","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of nine weekly sessions of Donkey-Assisted Therapy (DAT) on the functional status of 37 adults with an intellectual disability (ID) and to analyze the moderator role of the duration of sessions on the expected positive outcomes. A new tool based on the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF) was employed to measure functional changes in subjects undergoing DAT. The tool was administered at three different times (T0, T1, T2) by health care professionals and instructors who rated participants’ performance during DAT. Findings showed a significant improvement in the psycho-social functioning of patients undergoing DAT, especially for participants provided with longer sessions. The results of this study provide further evidence that DAT may be considered as a suitable therapeutic option for people with ID.","PeriodicalId":22000,"journal":{"name":"Society & Animals","volume":"-1 1","pages":"1-22"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2020-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41656813","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-12-01DOI: 10.1163/15685306-00001959
Maarten Reesink
{"title":"Jane in the Wild City","authors":"Maarten Reesink","doi":"10.1163/15685306-00001959","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-00001959","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":22000,"journal":{"name":"Society & Animals","volume":"28 1","pages":"689-693"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41863435","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-12-01DOI: 10.1163/15685306-12341554
Alexis Levitt, Lindsay B. Gezinski
This phenomenological study explored compassion fatigue and resiliency factors in animal shelter workers. Compassion fatigue is a phenomenon in which individuals become traumatized through the process of helping others. The sample included seven current and former animal shelter workers. The researchers conducted semi-structured interviews to examine general experiences with animal shelter work as well as compassion fatigue. The researchers read the transcripts multiple times and coded the data into themes and sub-themes. Four major themes and five sub-themes emerged from the data. These themes were 1) Intrinsic Motivations including (a) Right reason, (b) Affinity with animals and (c) Attachment to animals; 2) Purpose, including (a) Making a difference and (b) Focusing on the positive; 3) Social supports; and 4) Coping Strategies. The study has important practical implications, including the potential benefits of screening job applicants for intrinsic motivations and fostering positive relationships between coworkers and the animals they work with.
{"title":"Compassion Fatigue and Resiliency Factors in Animal Shelter Workers","authors":"Alexis Levitt, Lindsay B. Gezinski","doi":"10.1163/15685306-12341554","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-12341554","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This phenomenological study explored compassion fatigue and resiliency factors in animal shelter workers. Compassion fatigue is a phenomenon in which individuals become traumatized through the process of helping others. The sample included seven current and former animal shelter workers. The researchers conducted semi-structured interviews to examine general experiences with animal shelter work as well as compassion fatigue. The researchers read the transcripts multiple times and coded the data into themes and sub-themes. Four major themes and five sub-themes emerged from the data. These themes were 1) Intrinsic Motivations including (a) Right reason, (b) Affinity with animals and (c) Attachment to animals; 2) Purpose, including (a) Making a difference and (b) Focusing on the positive; 3) Social supports; and 4) Coping Strategies. The study has important practical implications, including the potential benefits of screening job applicants for intrinsic motivations and fostering positive relationships between coworkers and the animals they work with.","PeriodicalId":22000,"journal":{"name":"Society & Animals","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15685306-12341554","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44174145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-12-01DOI: 10.1163/15685306-12341544
C. Wrenn
Social movements have traditionally viewed free-riders as a problem for effective mobilization, but under the influence of the nonprofit industrial complex, it is possible that movements actively facilitate their presence. Free-riders become an economic resource to professionalized movements seeking to increase wealth and visibility in the crowded social movement space by discouraging meaningful attitude or behavior change from their audiences and concentrating power among movement elites. Actively cultivated free-riding is exemplified by the professionalized Nonhuman Animal rights movement which promotes flexitarianism over ethical veganism despite its goal of nonhuman liberation. Major social-psychological theories of persuasion in addition to 44 studies on vegan and vegetarian motivation are examined to illustrate how free-rider flexitarianism is at odds with stated goals, thereby suggesting an alternative utility in flexitarianism as a means of facilitating a disengaged public.
{"title":"Free-Riders in the Nonprofit Industrial Complex: The Problem of Flexitarianism","authors":"C. Wrenn","doi":"10.1163/15685306-12341544","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-12341544","url":null,"abstract":"Social movements have traditionally viewed free-riders as a problem for effective mobilization, but under the influence of the nonprofit industrial complex, it is possible \u0000that movements actively facilitate their presence. Free-riders become an economic \u0000resource to professionalized movements seeking to increase wealth and visibility in \u0000the crowded social movement space by discouraging meaningful attitude or behavior change from their audiences and concentrating power among movement elites. \u0000Actively cultivated free-riding is exemplified by the professionalized Nonhuman \u0000Animal rights movement which promotes flexitarianism over ethical veganism despite \u0000its goal of nonhuman liberation. Major social-psychological theories of persuasion in \u0000addition to 44 studies on vegan and vegetarian motivation are examined to illustrate \u0000how free-rider flexitarianism is at odds with stated goals, thereby suggesting an alternative utility in flexitarianism as a means of facilitating a disengaged public.","PeriodicalId":22000,"journal":{"name":"Society & Animals","volume":"-1 1","pages":"1-25"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15685306-12341544","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46315868","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}