Hearts And Minds: The Controversy Over Laboratory Animals (Animals Culture And Society) [Paperback]

Julian Groves (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 20, 1996 | ISBN-10: 1566394767 | ISBN-13: 978-1566394765

Media coverage of angry protestors and acts of sabotage claim so much public attention that few of us question the stereotypes that have developed around the animal research controversy. Those who support animal testing are routinely dismissed as mad scientists, emotionless logicians, or sadists with little regard for nonhuman creatures, while animal protection activists are dismissed as hysterics, antisocial radicals, or simple folk who prize rabbits and rats over human beings. Julian McAllister Groves takes a fresh look at the arguments and talks to people on both sides to discover what really motivates them. He probes into their ideas and emotions to understand how people get involved and why the arguments become so polarized. Living in a university town that is an important center of biomedical research, Groves could not ignore the intense opposition to research using animals. As he began to analyze the formation and activities of local protest groups, he started to attend meetings and talk to activists about their beliefs. To his surprise, many activists emphasized rational and scientific justifications for their commitment to the movement. Conversely, scientists who spoke with him frequently discussed their use of lab animals in the context of their feelings about pets or a particular animal that they had become attached to. Hearts and Minds looks past the placards and sound bites to get to the intellectual and psychological reasons that people use to explain their positions. It discards worn generalizations and offers a nuanced portrait of people who are seriously engaged in reconciling their ethics and their behavior. Author note: Julian McAllister Groves is a lecturer at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in the Division of Social Science.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Illumination of emotionally laden issues is typically sought through "objective" research and analysis. But for his study of animal-rights activists and animal researchers in a small Southern university town, Groves functioned as a participant-observer. Furthermore, he focused on people's feelingsDhow they felt about the use of animals in research, why they felt the way they did and how they felt about their feelings. The results are truly enlightening. He found that the opposing camps are distinguished in unexpected ways: animals-rights activists emphasize an ethic of personal responsibility expressed in rational, scientific terms, while researchers emphasize their roles as caring stewards of scientific research. These contrasting orientations have their origins in a shared acknowledgment of the moral costs of using animals, and Groves argues that polarization has resulted because people have not expressed to one another the shame and guilt that result from their moral ambivalence. As a result, pride, self-righteousness and anger become the dominant emotions guiding interactions between the two groups. This interpretive framework is logical but remains to be tested by moving beyond the author's "might haves" and "could haves" to a concrete proposal of ways to uncover and then build upon the common ground that exists.

Copyright 1997 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"[Groves] focused on peoples' feelings-how they feel about the use of animals in research, why they felt the way they did and how they felt about their feelings. The results are truly fascinating." - Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 230 pages
• Publisher: Temple University Press (December 20, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566394767
• ISBN-13: 978-1566394765
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,194,492 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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