Shocked or Satiated? Managing Moral Shocks Beyond the Recruitment Stage

Abstract Sociologists James Jasper and Jane Poulsen have argued that activists’ deployment of emotionally triggering ‘moral shocks’ can stimulate recruitment for movements, particularly for those which are less successful in recruiting through social networks. Others have suggested that, more than a recruitment tool, these moral shocks are useful for sustaining activist motivation. This study, however, explores the tendency of activists to disengage from moral shocks as a means of managing emotions such as compassion fatigue, burnout and psychological distress. Although many respondents see the utility in moral shocks as an outreach tool, they carefully consider their own exposure to protect their emotional well-being and protest sustainability. Results are based on an email-based qualitative interview with twenty-five newly recruited activists and established activists in the Western Nonhuman Animal rights movement.