This paper explores the process of human-horse communication using ethnographic data of in-depth interviews and participant observation. Guided by symbolic interactionism, the paper argues that humans and horses co-create a language system by way of the body to facilitate the creation of shared meaning. This research challenges the privileged status of verbal language and suggests that non-verbal communication and language systems of the body have their own unique complexities. This investigation of humanhorse communication offers new possibilities to understand the subjective (...) and intersubjective world of non-verbal language using beings—human and nonhuman alike. (shrink)

Companion animals play an important role in many human’s lives, including many Australian social workers and clients. Yet Australian social work has been slow to address the burgeoning area of human-animal studies. In this embryonic research, we focus on women’s close relationships with companion animals and some of the broad implications this has for social work practice. We analyze some of the themes expressed by women who participated in three focus groups we conducted: two on a university campus and another (...) in a community welfare agency setting. We also examine how the women interacted with each other as they spoke of “their pets,” as these dynamics point to a potentially important source of inspiration and energy that social workers may wish to harness in their day-to-day work with women. (shrink)

Sociologists have largely ignored the role of animals in society. This article argues that human-animal interaction is a topic worthy of sociological consideration and applies a sociological analysis to one problematic aspect of human-animal relationships - animal cruelty. The article reformulates animal cruelty, traditionally viewed using a psychopathological model, from a sociological perspective.The article identifies social and cultural factors related to the occurrence of animal cruelty. Ultimately, animal cruelty is a serious social problem that deserves attention in its own right, (...) not just because of its association with human violence. (shrink)

This paper reviews evidence of a progression from animal abuse to interhuman violence. It finds that the "progression thesis" is supported not by a coherent research program but by disparate studies often lacking methodological and conceptual clarity. Set in the context of a debate about the theoretical adequacy of concepts like "animal abuse" and "animal cruelty," it suggests that the link between animal abuse and interhuman violence should be sought not only in the personal biographies of those individuals who abuse (...) animals but also in those institutionalized social practices where animal abuse is routine, widespread, and socially acceptable. (shrink)

The Physical and Emotional Tormenting Against Animals Scale is a new self-administered scale to measure physical and emotional abuse against animals among adolescents. This study is a first attempt to establish the reliability and validity of this newly developed scale with a non-clinical sample of 1396 Italian adolescents, aged 11-17 years.The scale measures different dimensions of animal abuse, ranging from mild to more severe: bothering, tormenting, hitting, harming, and being cruel to an animal. The scale measures the prevalence and frequency (...) of directed and witnessed abuse against animals. Principal components analysis suggested a two factor solution, with factors labeled "direct" and "indirect" animal abuse; internal consistency was good for each factor.The direct animal abuse factor was significantly correlated with the Child Behavior Checklist's single item assessing engagement in cruelty against animals. These findings suggest that the PET scale has potential as an instrument for the measurement of animal abuse. Future studies of the PET scale's psychometric properties, and cross-validation on new populations, are needed. (shrink)