An Animal Is Not a Human. Or Is It?

• Published in: PsycCritiques Vol. 58; no. 30; p. No Pagination Specified
• Main Author: McBride, Anne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Psychological Association 24.07.2013
• Subjects: Animal; Animals; Human; Interspecies Interaction; Society
• ISSN: 1554-0138; 1554-0138
• DOI: 10.1037/a0033401

Reviews the book, Animals and Society: An Introduction to Human–Animal Studies by Margo DeMello (see record 2012-24519-000). This book provides an accessible introduction to the diversity of ways in which animals influence how humans think and act, both through our direct, or indirect, relations with actual animals themselves or through our symbolic representations of them. The content ranges across and within disciplines as disparate as literature studies, ethology, and social and cognitive psychology. DeMello links the multidisciplinary nature of the field of human–animal interactions into the interdisciplinary subject of anthrozoology, illustrating ideas and knowledge through diverse perspectives and thereby providing insight into approaches taken by different disciplines and enabling the reader to consider new and future avenues for research. Although primarily using a U. S. perspective of human–animal interactions, the author draws on international research. Overall a well-written, though not always fully referenced, work, this book engenders critical debate and reflects the burgeoning state of this fascinating field of study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)