Looking Deeper into 4H
A study published in Society & Animals
examined young people’s attitudes toward animals raised in 4-H
livestock programs. It focuses on the concept of “dominionism” and the
socialization of children to practices that harm certain animals despite
most children’s natural affinity for animals in general.
Study summary:
Colter
Ellis and Leslie Irvine, both of the University of Colorado, conducted
two sets of interviews with 45 students, aged 9-18, who participated in a
4-H program raising sheep, pigs and other farmed animals. They studied
the means by which the children learned to establish emotional distance
from animals being raised for slaughter and differentiated among various
types of animals. The authors concluded, “[W]hat children learn from
animals in 4-H touches issues at the heart of human-animal studies. In
particular, the program highlights the practices involved in maintaining
dominion over animals, including language and emotion management.
Understanding these practices can reveal how we justify our impact on
other sentient beings.”
Policy implications:
The
socialization process that occurs within 4-H programs, according to
this research, is often employed to teach children that raising animals
for slaughter is both normal and acceptable. This suggests the need for a
close review of the real educational value of 4-H and similar programs
and their impact on children's compassion toward both nonhuman and human
animals.
However, the study also has broader implications. Public
opinion surveys repeatedly show that people who have more formal
education tend to be less supportive of animal protection than those
with less education. Advocates have surmised that the process of
becoming “educated” socializes and desensitizes many people to
institutional animal use and abuse.
The 4-H program research is an
especially poignant example, but there are also many other examples
including dissection in high school, youth hunting programs, and
requiring terminal animal labs in medical schools. From an advocacy
standpoint, the goal is to develop policies that allow students to
easily opt out of such programs. Longer term, however, such programs
must be eliminated or altered to encourage rather than stifle the
compassion that is natural in students both young and old.
- Che Green, Humane Research Council (10/21/2011)
Published by admin on 12/26/2011 10:33:33
