Just a Dog - Understanding Animal Cruelty and Ourselves - Arluke Arnold

Publication Date: June 28, 2006 | Series: Animals, Culture, and Society

In "Just a Dog", Arnold Arluke argues that animal cruelty must be understood in terms of social relationships rather than an individual's psychological problem or personality disorder. Arluke situates cruelty in actual situations where groups of people decide, on their own terms, what constitutes the wrongful harm of animals and how best to communicate their understanding to others. He captures how law enforcement agents, shelter workers, humane marketers, the general public, and animal abusers (or neglecters), make sense of animal cruelty. In each case, cruelty's meaning reflects the practical, personal, and ideological concerns of these groups and the wider social and cultural confusion over the nature and significance of animals and their proper treatment. He shows that these divergent definitions are not mere reflections of the social world but are actively created and used by group members to achieve sought-after identities.

From Publishers Weekly
Arluke (Regarding Animals), an authority on animal cruelty, believes that in order to formulate effective programs and policies to combat such behavior, society must have an in-depth understanding of why people mistreat or neglect animals and of the cultural and social factors that encourage abuse. In this dense and overly long sociological study, he reports on the results of interviews with five groups of people: law enforcement agents who investigate incidents of abuse, adolescent animal abusers, animal hoarders, animal shelter workers (including those who must sometimes euthanize animals as well as those who believe no animal should ever be killed) and public relations experts who use animal cruelty as a marketing tool for fund-raising and education. Arluke examines the experiences and motivations of each group and reflects on how individuals think about their actions"whether cruel or humane"and use them to create identities for themselves. Wisely, the author keeps passages describing specific examples of cruelty to a minimum, and he refrains from making moral judgments. But Arluke's academic approach and language are off-putting, thwarting his objective of stimulating discussion and debate among the general public about the nature of animal cruelty and the importance of finding new ways to deal with it. (July)
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Review

"This is an important and thoughtful book--though I will remember a few scenes described in it with horror for some time."--BBC WILDLIFE November 2006 "Arluke explores here the definition of animal cruelty and the psychology of those who deal with it or perpetrate it. Arluke's descriptions are graphic and heart-wrenching. [T]his scholarly work is recommended." Library Journal "Arluke (Regarding Animals), an authority on animal cruelty, believes that in order to formulate effective programs and policies to combat such behavior, society must have an in-depth understanding of why people mistreat or neglect animals and of the cultural and social factors that encourage abuse. Wisely, the author keeps passages describing specific examples of cruelty to a minimum, and he refrains from making moral judgments." Publishers Weekly "Arluke has produced...an expertly researched study of animal cruelty and its human connections - those who care for animals as well as those who commit unspeakably cruel acts against them. Arluke is perceptive and mostly insightful in this comprehensive study...This is a significant and crucial achievement." Abolitionist-online "Just a Dog by Arnold Arluke is not just another book on animal cruelty - far from it. A well-written analysis...sociological in the best sense of the word... This study contributes to an understanding not just of animal cruelty, but of how animal cruelty, its participants, and their interpretations of, and responses to, cruelty tell us much about ourselves as individuals, as well as our relationships with others, both human and animal." Anthrozoos "Through courageous research Arluke set aside his judgment to explore how abusers see their behavior. He has given us a sociological understanding of animal abuse that recognizes the situational quality of cruelty and its ability to shape identity...In Just a Dog, Arnold Arluke uses cruelty to raise questions about what it means to be human. He also adds to our understanding of the complex and conflicting ways we humans regard other animals." Contemporary Sociology July 2007 "The book is useful reading for anyone interested in how our society currently deals with cruelty toward domestic animals...A valuable contribution to the literature on the treatment of animals." Metapsychology Online "Arluke provides a methodological blueprint for those who wish to move the study of human-animal relationships from the margins of social enquiry to the center. In Just a Dog he has produced a nonsensational rendering of a difficult and complex subject that deserves to be read by all students of these relationships... He approaches cruelty to animals with sensitivity." Current Anthropology


Product Details
Paperback: 232 pages
Publisher: Temple University Press (June 28, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1592134726
ISBN-13: 978-1592134724