module

Postgraduate Module Descriptor

ANTM109: Animal Criminology

This module descriptor refers to the 2022/3 academic year.

Overview

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS MODULE IS ONLY AVAILABLE VIA DISTANCE-LEARNING.

From medieval animal trials to recent debates about the legal recognition of animal sentience, animals have variously featured in the socio-legal sphere as criminals, hazards, property and victims of abuse. They are poached, rustled and damaged; abused, assaulted and neglected. In this module you will study the changing position of animals before the law and the ways in which cruelty and harm to animals are defined, measured, punished and prevented through legal and extra-legal means. We will ask what obligations humans have towards other animals, to what extent the criminal justice system can secure their interests and which human interests are served by legislation. We will examine the links between animal cruelty and inter-human violence, debate ways in which wildlife persecution – globally and in the UK – can be addressed, examine the roles of charities and NGOs in the enactment and enforcement of animal welfare legislation, explore the criminalisation of certain kinds of environmental and animal advocacy, and discuss what it would mean for animals to be treated as legal persons. Criminology has traditionally focused on certain dimensions of animal abuse at the expense of others and prioritised the study of animal abuse as an indicator of inter-human violence. This module will cover many different types of animal harm and expand traditional criminological definitions of abuse. We will examine animal abuse through sociological, psychological, anthropological and philosophical lenses to develop a multi-disciplinary anthrozoological perspective.

There are no pre-requisites for this module.