Book review: Confronting Animal Abuse: Law, Criminology, and Human–Animal Relationships
| Author | Allison Futterman,Bruce A. Arrigo |
| Date | 01 February 2012 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1362480611425412 |
| Published date | 01 February 2012 |
| Subject Matter | Book reviews |
115
I have recommended this book to dissertation and final-year undergraduate students,
and they have all been moved intellectually and emotionally by its account. Border
Crimes shows, carefully and systematically building a ‘big’ picture and an overwhelming
case without the detraction of any ‘moral crusade’ (Stan Cohen, cited on p. 16), how the
humanity of Amal Basry, and all those who suffered in the ‘SIEV X’ tragedy, in the
regime of mandatory detention and temporary protection visas which led to it, and in
the ‘Pacific Solution’ which accompanied it, was systematically denied and degraded by
these policies. Tragically, or rather reprehensibly, it is still happening.
Reference
Green P and Ward T (2004) State Crime: Governments, Violence and Corruption. London: Pluto
Press.
Piers Beirne
Confronting Animal Abuse: Law, Criminology, and Human–Animal Relationships
Rowman & Littlefield: Lanham, MD, 2009. 256 pp. ISBN: 9780742547445, US$29.95
Reviewed by: Allison Futterman and Bruce A. Arrigo, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA
In his latest book, Confronting Animal Abuse, Piers Beirne tackles the serious issues
surrounding human–animal relationships in an original and thought-provoking manner.
This new work could be viewed as a progression, or even extension, of the green crimi-
nology movement, of which Beirne is a recognized scholar.
Green criminology is most closely associated with environmental/ecological harm, but
in his introduction, Beirne provides a sound explanation as to how and why animal abuse
has a place within green criminological study. The harm resulting from social inequality
and power differentials is at the forefront of green criminology, and therefore, human-inflicted
animal harm fits perfectly within its scope. Confronting Animal Abuse represents, therefore,
the confluence of Beirne’s work in animal rights, sociology, and green criminology.
Confronting Animal Abuse is unprecedented in its...
To continue reading
Request your trial