Fw: Psychological impacts on students of harmful animal use

From: pearl (tea_at_signguestbook.ie)
Date: 08/30/04 

Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 21:11:34 +0100

 From: "Andrew Knight"
 Date: 29 August 2004 10:09

 Psychological impacts on students of harmful animal use:

 At www.LearningWithoutKilling.info
<http://www.learningwithoutkilling.info/, 'resources, studies, attitudes
towards animal use/miscellaneous studies' are several relevant studies from
our list of 2 -300 educational studies. A few examples are given:

 Capaldo T. The psychological effects on students of using animals in ways
that they see as ethically, morally or religiously wrong. ATLA 2004;32 Suppl
1:525-531.

 This paper from NEAVS President Theodora Capaldo (a psychologist) is
ideal. You could request it from her. Try info@neavs.org and get back to me
if you have trouble reaching her.

 Paul ES, Podberscek AL. Veterinary education and students' attitudes
towards animal welfare. The Veterinary Record 2000 Mar 4;146(10):269-272.
Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10749039

 Comment in: Vet Rec. 2000 Mar 11;146(11):327.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10766123

Comment in: Vet Rec. 2000 Mar 18;146(12):355.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10777047

 Comment in: Vet Rec. 2000 Mar 18;146(12):355.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10777048>

 Veterinary students at two British universities in their first preclinical,
first clinical and final years of study, completed questionnaires designed
to assess their attitudes towards the welfare of animals. These attitudes
were divided into their two constituent components: emotional (emotional
empathy with animals) and cognitive (belief in the sentience of animals).
Analyses of variance revealed that the year of study was significantly
related to the perceived sentience of dogs, cats and cows, with students in
their later years of study rating them as having lower levels of sentience.
The female students rated themselves as having significantly higher levels
of emotional empathy with animals than did the male students. There was also
a significant interaction between sex and year of study, the female students
maintaining relatively high levels of empathy throughout the three years,
whereas the male students showed lower levels of empathy in their later
years.

 Solot D, Arluke A. Learning The Scientist's Role: Animal Dissection in
Middle School. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 1997:26(1):28-54.

 This study of the responses of sixth graders to fetal pig dissections
concluded that the exercise risks fostering callousness towards animals and
nature, and that it may dissuade students, especially girls, from pursuing
careers in scientific fields.

 Arluke A, Hafferty F. From apprehension to fascination with "Dog Lab:" The
use of absolutions by medical students. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
1996;25(2):201-225.

 Medical students (41) initially felt moral uneasiness towards performing
terminal procedures on live dogs, but they eventually were able to
neutralize any feelings of moral guilt by learning absolutions (e.g., the
staff killed the dogs) that permit denial of responsibility and wrongdoing.

 Glick SM. Animals for teaching purposes: medical students' attitude.
Medical Education 1995 Jan;29(1):39-42. Center for Medical Education,
Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Soroka
Medical Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=7623684

 Animal rights movements have increased the scope and intensity of their
activities over the past decade. While it is generally assumed that doctors
and other members of the health care professions favour the use of animals
for science, few data are available. Student protests in various medical
schools against use of animals in teaching laboratories indicated further
need for objective data. A questionnaire about attitudes to the use of
animals for teaching purposes was distributed to all the medical students at
the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, present during classes on a given
day. All students present (200) returned the questionnaire (70% of the
student body). Also queried were attitudes towards related subjects. A high
percentage of medical students surveyed had significant reservations about
animal experimentation for teaching purposes and about the preferential
priority for human life over that of animals. These attitudes, if confirmed,
have serious implications for educators both in the health fields and otherwise.

For additional studies search http://www.learningwithoutkilling.info/ ,
'resources, studies, attitudes towards animal use/miscellaneous studies.'

You're also welcome to use this text of mine:

Psychological impacts on students

 Last but definitely not least, are the impacts of dissection or other
harmful animal use in educational settings on children or impressionable
young adults. Rather than teaching respect for the intrinsic worth of
animals' lives, the underlying message of such classes is clearly that
animals may be used as disposable teaching tools, despite any verbal
message to the contrary a teacher may give.

 Of particular concern are those students who might find the experience
distressing. Studies have shown that students may suffer psychological
trauma as a result of seeing themselves or others engaged in behavior they
find ethically objectionable. Their cognitive abilities may become impaired,
resulting in decreased learning. Some withdraw and lose interest in the
sciences, while others develop a utilitarian view of animals, thereby
diminishing their capacity for compassion and ethical decision making. This
phenomenon, which I personally witnessed on a large scale as a direct result
of gross harmful animal use in veterinary college, has been referred to as
"desensitization" or "brutalization".

The importance of this phenomenom, in a climate of increasing social
concern about violence, and when the links between animal abuse and
violence towards humans have become well established, is obvious.
Animal abuse is now considered a warning sign by psychologists and
social workers, indicating a predisposition towards violent behavior.

That the most compassionate and ethical students are also those most
commonly turned away from careers in the life and health sciences by
such experiences in schools, despite the fact that it is precisely these
students we most need as our future doctors and scientists, is a cruel
irony our educators must take full responsibility for.

Best wishes,

Andrew Knight

--end forward--

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