Skip to main content

Just a Dog: Understanding Animal Cruelty and Ourselves: Index

Just a Dog: Understanding Animal Cruelty and Ourselves

Index

Index

48 Hours, 188

accounts and neutralizing techniques, 11–12, 86. See also adolescent abusers: appropriating adult culture by, idle play of, rite of passage excuse of; hoarders, accounts of; shelter euthanasia, justifying; shelter workers: excusing bad animal behavior by, failure of accounts by

Adler, Patricia and Peter, 71

adolescent abusers, 14–15; appropriating adult culture by, 64–77; boundary drawing by, 67–71, 83; character disorder in, 2, 56; claim making by, 58–59; collaboration by, 69–71; compartmentalizing by, 85; coolness and thrill reported by, 62–63, 64, 66, 70, 72; cruelty rate of, 189; curiosity of, 74–77; deep play of, 58, 81, 83; dirty play of, 58–59, 73, 77, 79, 80, 83–84; disciplining by, 73; emotion management by, 60–61; “experimenting” by, 76–77, 83; guilt and shame of, 61, 78–79, 80, 85, 184; hiding abuse by, 65–67,70; “hunting” by, 69, 71–73, 83; idle play of, 59–61; information seeking by, 74–77; laughter of, 79–80, 82; limiting harm by, 61, 71–72; moral depravity of, 190; presentation of self by, 77–78, 80–81, 84; punishment of, 188, 193, 196; rite of passage excuse of, 80; secondary adjustments by, 64–65; subcultural approach to, 57–58; weapons interest among, 72

alter identities. See hoarders: animal alters of; shelter workers: alter identity of

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), 118

Angell, George, 173

animal control workers: euthanasia by, 118, 127, 136,139; failure to help by, 25–26, 29, 30; police referral to, 31; press image of, 99. See also humane agents: dogcatcher image of

animal experimentation, 4–5, 22, 44, 81–22, 116. See also adolescent abusers: “experimenting” by

Animal Liberation Front (ALF), 152

animal people (“lover”), 48, 169. See also shelter workers: animal people identity of

animal rights activists, 22, 193. See also cruelty, images of: animal activists’; humane agents: extremist image of

As Good as it Gets, 82

autonomous altruists, 104

Bergh, Henry, 173, 174

Berkowitz, David, 191

bonsai cat, 82

Boston Globe, 165

campus police, 24

cat-hating books, 82

children and adolescents: abuse and neglect of, 35, 38, 97, 156, 172, 200, 201; angry child model of, 56; clique dynamics of, 71; concealment by, 65; cross gender borderwork of, 63; development of, 21; distress from animal surrender by, 38; homicide rate of, 189; interpretive reproduction by, 64; murdered, 166; objectionable behavior of, 15; play of, 58–59, 63; pranks of, 69; protection of, 166; risk taking behaviors of, 66; “running around” by Amish, 78; secondary adjustments by, 64

cleaning workers, 22

Clifford, James, 84

cockfighting, 198

communist societies, 105

Conference on Homeless Animal Management and Policy, 125

Corsaro, William, 73

Court TV, 188

courtesy status, 24

crime news, 88–89, 109–10, 112

cruelty: ambiguity of and inconsistency toward, 5, 14, 18, 24, 29, 32, 33, 47, 53, 82, 88–89, 146, 164, 178, 181, 200–203; “beautiful” cases of, 17–18,149-81; “borderline” cases of, 26–27, 33; “bullshit” cases of, 25–29; coarsening effects of, 4–5; complaints of, 25–29; defining, 5, 7–12, 24–6, 33, 34, 47; emotions and, 60–61, 64, 78–79, 109; glossing of, 198–203; humor about, 61, 82, 190, 197; medicalizing, 56–57, 90; normative, 57, 64–77, 80–82; passive, 200; punishing, 1,10, 82, 158–59, 168, 172, 193, 194; trivializing, 14,197; ugly cases of, 18, 186–98; violence link of, 2–4, 166–67, 191–92

cruelty, approach(es) to: angry child, 56–57; assumptions underlying, 5–9; deliberate bad actor, 199; displacement, 56; general theory, 58; graduation (or escalation), 56–57; metaphorical, 189–98; psychological 5–6, 56–58, 73; sociological, 6, 8–13,19-20, 183–84, 198, 202–3; subcultural, 7, 57–58

cruelty, images of: animal activists’, 150, 152–53; Nazi, 122–23; public criticism caused by, 100; “sexy,” 150, 180. See also cruelty: glossing of, humor about, ugly cases of; hoarders: news reports about; humane society marketers: beautiful cases crafted by, language used by, visual images shaped by

cruelty, victims of: adopting, 162, 177–78; anthropomorphizing, 73,192; appearance of, 186; as evidence, 176; championing, 175–78; childlike image of, 149, 166, 197; consoling owners of, 171; lack of empathy for, 79; memorializing, 148–49, 164, 166, 178–79, 188; owners as, 155–57, 170–71, 186; reactions by, 15; rescuing, 147; satisfactory, 56; selecting, 67–69; support for, 148, 171; sympathy for, 150, 153, 156. See also humane society marketers: star victims rotated by

cruelty laws: ambiguity of, 5, 24, 47, 198; clearcut violations of, 147; early, 5, 23; exceeding, 27, 34, 38, 44, 48; inappropriate complaints regarding, 33; interpreting, 14; neglect and, 90; penalties provided by, 10, 11; stray animals devalued by, 196; strict interpretation of, 36, 46; threatening with, 40. See also humane agents: court action threatened by

Dahmer, Jeffrey, 56, 191

Dead Zone, 3

death workers, 22

degloving, 152

Democratic Convention (Chicago, 1968), 163

Diagnostic and Statistic Manual 57

dirty work, 21–22, 47. See also humane agents: dirty work of, dogcatcher image of; shelter workers: dirty work of

disaster victims, 141, 146, 147

dog fighting, 174

Duffield Family Foundation (Maddies’ Fund), 117

Durkheim, Emile, 141, 146

Dusty Fund, 155

emergency room workers, 126

euthanasia. See shelter euthanasia

Fine, Gary Alan, 58–59, 77–78, 80, 81

First Strike, 4

folk diagnoses, 90

Freud, Anna, 2

Goffman, Erving, 80

Goldberg, Bernard, 149

Goodman, Walter, 149

gossip, 67

group(s): amorphous 11, 169; authenticity controversies of, 115; cultural resources used by, 123; perspectives of, 8–12, 13; reference, 172; rescue, 131; solidarity created within, 141–42, 146; stigmatized, 7, 22, 47, 142; subcultural, 7, 11. See also organizations

gun collectors, 108

Hell on Earth, 83

hidden curriculum, 81–82

Hitler, Adolf, 3, 123

hoarders, 15–16; accounts of, 86–87, 101–9, 113–14; animal alters of, 107; animalization of, 107–9, 110; childhood history of, 114; criminalization of, 88–90; eccentricity of, 90–91, 92, 93, 105; “excessive love” by, 91–93; guilt of, 86, 102; human victims of, 97; isolation of 88, 92, 104–5, 111; medicalization of, 90–91; minimizing neglect of, 96–98; news reports about, 86–114; norm violation by, 93, 111–12; normalization of, 90–93; organizational control of, 87, 96; pitification of, 93–95; presentation of self by, 101–2; punishment of, 89–90, 110–11, 112; rational, 113–14; readers’ use of stories about, 109–13; rejection of pet category by, 107–9; rescuing by, 102–4; sacrifices by, 102, 104–9; siege mentality of, 106; stray animals taken by, 102, 103; syndrome and diagnosis of, 90; treatment of, 91, 93; victimization of, 98, 105–6

hobbyists, 108–9

Hoffman, Abbie, 163

Hoffman, Dustin, 83–84

Hughes, Everett C., 21, 22

human-animal relationships: ambivalence and contradiction in, 6, 15, 53, 81–84, 124, 183; anthropological approach to, 183; boundaries of, 103, 107–9, 110–11, 113, 192, 194–97; “dark side” of, 9, 178; sociological study of, 9

humane agents (animal police), 1–2, 13–14; “beautiful” cases handled by, 148; bluffing power by, 35–43; “bullshit” complaints handled by, 21, 25–29, 32, 147; campus police compared to, 24; celebrity, 167; conflict among, 47–52; court action threatened by, 37–42; dealing with jerks, 40–41; dirty work of, 23, 24–32, 48; dogcatcher image of, 24, 30–31, 35, 51; early history of, 23; educational approaches by, 33–35; emergencies handled by, 25–26; extralegal work of, 23; extremist image of, 14, 24, 30, 31–32, 44–47, 48, 51, 52; “good guy” image of, 39; hoarders dealt with by, 38, 98, 99, 105; humane correctness of, 52–53; humane standpoint of, 33–34; impression management by, 33–47; overinvolvement in cases by, 44; problematic work adjustments by, 51–52; regular police in contrast to, 23–24; regular police view of, 30–32, 46, 47; rescuing by, 175–76; rookie, 14, 21, 25, 33, 38, 50; seizing animals by, 38–39, 88, 98, 100, 105–6, 148, 175, 176–77; stray and abandoned animals helped by, 26, 48; suppressing emotion by, 43–47; training of, 23; zealousness of, 44–51

humane society marketers (media and development staff), 17–18; abusers portrayed by, 157–60; beautiful cases crafted by, 149–62; criticism of, 178–81; happy endings sought by, 160–62; heroes provided by, 175–78; identities validated by, 168–73; language used by, 152–53; moral education by, 165–68; morale strengthened by, 173–75; solidarity created by, 163–78; star victims rotated by, 155; suffering cleaned up by, 149–53; values reaffirmed by, 164–68; victims made appealing by, 153–55; visual images shaped by, 150–52, 153–54, 161

Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), 4, 128, 151

hunting, 32, 52. See also adolescent abusers: “hunting” by

ideological work, 11–12, 202

impulsive character development, 56

Katz, Jack, 109

Kelly, (crushed) dog, 187, 190, 195

Killer Kelly, 117–18

killing rooms, 153

King, Steven, 3

Law and Order, 155

Levi-Strauss, Claude, 183

Locke, John, 2

Macdonald's triad, 2

Majone, Giandomenico, 166

Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), 173–74

Matsunaka, Stan, 193

Mead, Margaret, 2

memoralization, 178. See also cruelty: victims of, memorializing

middle class morality, 111–12

Milgram, Stanley, 79–80

moral emergency, 172

moral panic, 201

New York Times, 118, 149

Nicholson, Jack, 82

Noah's Ark, the (beaten) cats of, 187–88, 190, 195

norm using, 166

occupational therapists, 22

organizations: coping techniques of, 4; political perception of humane, 150; secondary adjustments within, 113–14; sensemaking by, 164. See also adolescent abusers: secondary adjustments by; hoarders: organizational control of; shelter workers, emotion work of

Osbourne, Ozzy, 83

ox pulls, 52

pack rats, 114

paralegals, 43

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), 151, 152

pet stores, 29, 40, 45, 52

“prettifying reality,” 149

pro-choice/pro-life movements, 122, 123–24, 144

professionalism, 43–47

Protection of Animals Act (1911), 5

puppy mills, 162

Rent, 82

rescue workers, 126

right to die movement, 124–25

ritual moral exercise, 109–13

rodeos, 52, 53

Rosenhan, David, 104

“rumspringa” (running around), 96

sanctuaries, 140

Schur, Edwin, 115

Secret Window, 3

serial killers, animal, 191–92

sex workers, 22

shelter animals: adoption of, 99, 100, 138, 177–78; behavioral problems of, 99, 127, 129–30, 131–33, 134, 137, 139, 140, 144; celebrity owners of, 156; “movie star,” 133–34, 165; quality of life of, 129, 137, 140, 144–45; “spoiling periods” for, 136,138; surrendered, 120; temperament testing of, 127, 137–38; warehousing of, 128–30, 158–60, 184

shelter euthanasia, 16–17; as cruel, 99–101, 119–20, 121–24, 129, 147, 151, 153–54, 184; blaming society for, 116, 120; coping with, 22, 99, 116; demoralization from, 116, 119, 138, 140–41; denial of, 132; guidelines for, 138; humane, 101, 116, 117, 121, 122, 124–25, 128, 137, 161, 175, 186; justifying, 116–18, 124, 129, 137–38; killing versus, 122–23; public criticism of, 98, 100, 103, 117, 120; resistance to, 140, 145; responsibility for, 118; routinization of, 136; technicians, 115, 116, 136

shelter workers: adoption work of, 131–35; alter identity of, 135; animal people identity of, 116; blaming adopters by, 132–33; blaming peers by, 120–25; championing animals by, 126–30; community disintegration among, 141–46; cruelty label among, 117–18,119-23, 126, 127–28, 129, 135, 137, 141, 142, 146; cruel perception of, 99–101; dirty work of, 142; emotion work of, 119–20, 135–41,145-46; excusing bad animal behavior by, 131; failure of accounts by, 136; grief and mourning of, 135, 139; guilt of, 119, 120, 121,125,131, 137, 139, 143, 146; hoarding dealt with by, 98–99; humane identity of, 116–17, 119, 135, 142; language manipulation by, 122–24, 125,129, 130, 134; moral stress of, 116, 118–19, 144; no-kill versus open admission tensions between, 16–17, 118–19, 141–46; overpopulation problem managed differently by, 118, 120, 122, 127; outlaw image of, 142–43; rehabilitating animals by, 130–36; rescuing by, 51, 120,125-35, 141, 144; social movement piggybacking by, 123–25; stray animals dealt with by, 116, 118, 133

sociozoological scale, 67–69, 83, 107, 110–11, 196. See also cruelty: victims of, selecting; human-animal relationships: boundaries of

Straw Dogs, 82–83

Stroud, Robert (Birdman), 3

suffering: ambiguity of, 34, 140, 183; ambivalence toward, 184, 185, 188; causing, 61, 121, 123, 128; conveying, 203; denial or dismissal of, 90, 184, 193, 198; ending, 100, 116, 122, 124, 137, 161, 178, 186, 197; human, 4, 126, 138, 144, 194; interpreting or assessing, 28, 45, 128, 140, 185, 197, 198, 199; media minimization of, 82, 96, 101, 149–53, 154, 200; sympathy for, 156, 192; use of, 192; witnessing, 88, 179, 187

supernurturing, 116

symbolic interaction, 9–10, 183–84

There's Something About Mary, 82

Thorne, Barrie, 63

time out, 78

Today Show, 188

trivial versus consequential social experiences, 59–60

Two Chicks Dishin’, 82

vegetarianism, 52, 53

vocabulary of justice, 167

Westword, 197

Westy, the (burned) cat, 183, 186–87, 189, 190, 191, 192–93, 194, 197

wife abuse, 200

wilders, 77

work addiction, 51

Next Chapter
About Author
PreviousNext
Copyright © 2006 by Temple University
Powered by Manifold Scholarship. Learn more at manifoldapp.org