Contemporary Justice Review

Issues in Criminal, Social, and Restorative Justice

ISSN: 1028-2580 (Print) 1477-2248 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/gcjr20

Recognizing the ‘other:’ issues of animal–human

relationships and animal rights in crime and
justice

Sue Cote Escobar

To cite this article: Sue Cote Escobar (2015): Recognizing the ‘other:’ issues of animal–human
relationships and animal rights in crime and justice, Contemporary Justice Review, DOI:
10.1080/10282580.2015.1093746

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10282580.2015.1093746

Published online: 08 Oct 2015.

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 Contemporary Justice Review, 2015
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10282580.2015.1093746

GUEST EDITORS’ NOTE

Recognizing the ‘other:’ issues of animal–human relationships

and animal rights in crime and justice

Researchers have been complaining about the lack of attention to animals in social
science literature for the past 30 years or more (Bryant, 1979). As social science
disciplines, criminology, criminal justice, and victimology have ignored an entire
category of sentient beings, namely nonhuman animals, as victims as well as
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sources of therapeutic benefit to at-risk human populations. My own review of text-

books in victimology alone reveals the stark omission of thoughtful, scholarly con-
sideration of animal–human relationships, whether abusive or therapeutic, and the
legislative history of animal rights. This absence of animals in these disciplines
must bring scholars and practitioners back to the roots of important concepts of
harm, crime, rights, and who or what is impacted and in what way.
Although there has been progress in the social sciences with animals making an
appearance in the literature here and there (see Beirne, 1999; who writes how ani-
mals have ‘infiltrated’ sociology; Arluke & Sanders, 1996), there still remains a
dearth of research on animals, with much social science study being largely
anthropocentric in its purpose and focus on relationships among humans (Arluke &
Sanders, 1996; Flynn, 2001). For instance, Arluke (1993) pondered why scholars
and researchers in academic circles have not taken a stronger interest in animals
and our relationships with them and our world, despite numerous publications on
animals in popular and other scholarly literature. Arluke (2006) and others (e.g.,
Agnew, 1998; Beirne, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2007; Flynn, 2001) have also con-
tinued to ask this question for criminology and sociology.
These disciplines, including victimology, have a lot to offer to researchers and
practitioners alike in the way of a solid understanding of human and nonhuman
relationships. While the presence of animals in victimology and criminology is
quite sparse, efforts by Beirne (1995, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2007), for example, have
begun to make progress. According to Beirne (2002), criminology has enjoyed the
increased presence of animals in its works since around 1970, but why has the
study of animals remained largely absent from the research, even today? First, soci-
eties, generally, tend to value animals less than people (Arluke & Luke, 1997).
Likewise, criminologists prefer to investigate harms committed by humans against
other humans. As a result, violence committed against animals is not taken very
seriously. Moreover, due to demands placed on research and teaching faculty on
the tenure-track, the focus of scholarship and curricular development emphasizes
what is important and ‘hot’ in the field (i.e., gangs, delinquency, drugs, crime map-
ping). Lastly, since the media does not capture the full scope of animal cruelty
cases, public perception suggests that animal abuse is a rare event, with only a very
small percentage of prosecuted animal cruelty offenses being publicized, and many
are seen as isolated incidents (Flynn, 2000).

© 2015 Taylor & Francis

 2 Guest editors’ note

Nonetheless, the neglect of animals within victimology and other social

sciences, such as criminology and sociology, may be coming to end. The genesis
for the first volume of this special issue lies with my own research on and analysis
of victimology texts concerning the inclusion of animals as victims (Escobar,
2012). My research involved systematic content analysis of thirteen victimology
textbooks published between 2002 and 20121 and focused specifically on the tables
of contents and indices, and, the actual text, if indicated or present in the table of
contents and index. Content analysis involves ‘any technique for making inferences
by objectively and systematically identifying specified characteristics of messages’
and becomes useful when examining and coding patterns, trends, and determining
meaning within texts or visual media (Holsti, 1969, p. 14).
My analysis involved focusing on topical themes within victimology texts and
how much attention, if any, was given to animal cruelty. I measured attention to
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animal cruelty by looking at where animal cruelty or pet abuse was present in the
texts: Was there an individual chapter on animal cruelty? Was animal cruelty listed
as a topic in the Table of Contents? and Was animal cruelty listed as a subject in
the book’s index? I developed the following research questions to measure and
evaluate the presence, frequency and representation of animals and animal cruelty
in victimology textbooks: (1) How frequently do the following terms or phrases
appear in the index: animal cruelty/animal abuse/pet abuse/companion animals;
(2) In what context are abused animals described, if at all? and (3) What is the
larger meaning behind the presence or absence of animal cruelty in victimology
textbooks? Unfortunately, since very little to no animal cruelty content was present
in all but two texts, no evaluation of the content was done. With respect to the
phrase, animals as victims, one book had a single chapter on it (McShane &
Emeka, 2011), and for pet abuse, there was only a single paragraph devoted to this
subject in one textbook (Meadows, 2009). Consequently, my findings confirmed a
continued dearth of material and lack of attention on this important component of
victimology.
My findings support significant reasons why animals should be included more
often in crime and justice publications, including this journal. The papers in this
first volume address, in different ways, the important themes of animal–human
relationships and animal rights. The connection between animal cruelty and
interpersonal violence is explored in the Simmons, Knight, and Ellis paper, which
examines animal cruelty committed by youth and future behavioral outcomes.
Spencer and Fitzgerald take the discipline of criminology to task by showing the
ways that animals have been classified, categorized, and labeled, when juxtaposed
against humans. By equating animals with stupidity and feeblemindedness, the
criminal justice system continues to harm animals, rendering them and their
atavistic human counterparts without value. Three of the papers, by Komorosky
and O’Neal, Kelly and Cozzolino, and Furst, focus on the therapeutic role that
animals play in the rehabilitative work with various at-risk populations. While
distinct, all three papers demonstrate the significant impact that animals have on
rehabilitating inmates as well as veterans with PTSD and generating empathic and
pro-social behavior among youth who face numerous challenges, including
delinquent histories, substance abuse, and aggression. Lastly, Jones’ manuscript
provides a thoughtful discussion and analysis of animal rights as a social justice
issue.
 Contemporary Justice Review 3

Taken together, these six manuscripts embody my personal and professional

goal of integrating animals into a crime and justice context and are the answers to
the question of ‘why are animals absent from crime and justice publications’. I
hope that you, the reader, enjoy reading them as much as I did.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Note
1. Selection of the 13 victimology textbooks was based on whether the textbook offered
comprehensive coverage of a variety of issues pertaining to victimization and victimol-
ogy, with attention given to contemporary textbooks published by well-known and
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respected publishing companies in higher education (see Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts,
2010; Daigle, 2012; Davis, Lurigio, & Herman, 2007; Doerner & Lab, 2008; Karmen,
2009; McShane & Emeka, 2011; Meadows, 2009; Sgarzi & McDevitt, 2002; Shichor &
Tibbetts, 2002; Turvey & Petherick, 2008; Walklate, 2007; Wallace & Robertson, 2010;
Williams & Goodman-Chong, 2009).

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Arluke, A., & Luke, C. (1997). Physical cruelty toward animals in Massachusetts,
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 4 Guest editors’ note

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Sue Cote Escobar

California State University, Sacramento, USA