Chau Tran

Dr. Covarrubias
SBS 328 – Social Module Theory
21 December 2018

Animal Rights Movement

Selection/Introduction:

After a long period of time researching and careful considering, I have chosen the topic

of “Animal Rights Movement” as my social movement selection. The reason why I chose this

movement over other significant movements is because of my love and passion for all things

related to animals, especially their wellbeing. Knowing that animals do not have voices of their

own to share their thoughts or opinions, and the movements overall indispensable value and

impact on them, I want to learn more about the details. I have heard many different opinions on

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and I am curious about their techniques and

methods of protecting animals and the reasons why so many people are against the organization.

Throughout the process of writing this social movement paper, I hope to gain further

understanding on how to help and advocate animals.

Thematic Section:

Animal Rights Movement, which is also known as Animal Liberation Movement or

Animal Advocacy Movement, is a movement created on behalf of animals of all kinds. The

movement was originally established in order put an end to the cruel treatments inflicted upon all

animals within a farm, laboratory, home, or wild setting across the world. The Animal Rights

Movement strives to protect both the moral and legal rights of animals. One distinguishable

group amongst countless others with the goal of advocating and protecting nonhuman animals

would be the PETA, which stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The

organization was founded in March 1980 by Ingrid Newkirk and Alex Pacheco, renowned
British and American animal activists, whose ideas went against speciesism, the belief that

different values, rights, or special consideration are assigned to individuals completely based on

the basis of their species membership. Deductively speaking, Newkirk and Pacheco

straightforwardly rejected the idea that nonhuman animals such as cows, pigs, dogs, and

monkeys do not belong in the species homo sapiens, therefore do not deserve similar rights and

respects as humans receive. Ever since the organization’s first introduction, PETA has been

advocating for animals by: lobbying government agencies to impose fines, promoting a vegan

lifestyle, dispatching undercover investigators into farms, laboratories that carried out researches

on animals, and circuses. Their efforts had paid off tremendously, with the production of movies

similar to the 2008 American documentary film widely known as Food, Inc. and the publish

journals similar to the 2001 nonfiction book Fast Food Nation written by Eric Schlosser.

PETA’s undercover investigators entered farms, laboratories, and circuses impersonating as farm

workers and cleaners to gather information about the mistreatment of animals through the use of

modern-day cameras by recording videos and taking pictures of the cruel events. By taking part

in the work of those corporations, investigators have a clear understanding of how animals are

regularly handled and tended to by the workers of those corporations. PETA claims that there are

about 6.5 million members and supporters; not including those that have been making private

donations to the organizations throughout the years to support their causes regarding animal

rights. After researching and analyzing PETA’s website, I have learned that the organization is

extremely against: electric-shock training for dogs, caging birds, euthanasia of ill and/or healthy

animals, declawing cats, zoos, crafting dogs and puppies, catch-and release fishing, so on and so

forth.
 According to Andrew Lawler, author of Animal Activists Target NASA Mission, animals’

rights activists are extremely concerned and had expressed opposition against a multinational

space project to study the effects of weightlessness on rhesus monkeys conducted by NASA

(Lawler, 1996). This information clarifies that PETA indeed gets involved with many important

organizations in order to protect animal rights. Constance Holden has also published an article

stating that PETA has created a great impact by successfully persuading the state of Louisiana to

stop the planned euthanasia of three monkeys that used to be laboratory animals (Holden, 1989).

This information, which dates back to the beginning days of PETA, also confirms its effort in

saving animals. According to Frankie Trull, author of Biomedical Attacks, PETA has also

successfully established and advocated rights for animals against biomedical attacks (Trull,

1999). This is important because every day animals are subjected to abuse in laboratories.

Theoretical Section:

Social movements are collective and purposeful organized groups established to resist

changes or defend beliefs. Within these groups, members will often collaborate with one another

in order to work towards a common goal. Although these goals may vary, they all seek to create

and develop a social change; changes that will alter the social order of society. Social changes

may contain but are not limited to: a change in the social institution, social behavior, and beliefs,

or social relations. Social movements apply enormous amounts of changeability, despite this

everyone consists of a sense of individuality and mobilization for the sake of change to an

injustice and promotion of morality.

Social movements can occur on the local, regional, national, or even global stage. In

other words, movements are everywhere, from towns, nations, to around the world. For example,

the Flint water crisis, which first started in 2014, gave rise to the FLOW (For Love of Water)
program. FLOW’s mission is to safeguard and protect the world’s largest freshwater lake system

of Great Lakes. FLOW is considered to be within all of the three stages: local, regional and

national stages of social movement because its goal of protecting the water affects both the area

where it is located, including Clint, Michigan, and the whole nation. As long as there are

discontented populations whose needs and interests are not met and provided, social movements

will always be a part of society. These movements are commonly caused by impulses. A group

of people that starts a social movement could feel threatened by something or some situation, and

they feel a great necessity to form a unity to create an impactful movement in hopes of change.

They are driven by the determination of fighting for what they have been longed for, whether it

be justice or freedom. These people have similar experiences that causes them to strive for the

same goal by starting a movement that will raise awareness among their society. Due to the

spontaneous characteristic of social movements, the movements themselves do not belong to any

certain organization. For example, the #MeToo movement has been an uproar on social media

with the purpose of raising awareness in regard to sexual harassment and sexual assault,

especially in a work environment. The term #MeToo was popularized by actress Alyssa Milano

in 2017. It has caused an uproar when people realized how effective it is, that it greatly helps

victims of sexual abuse find their justice. This movement was not initially formed by any

organization, but it simply became widespread due to the power of social media.

The Black Lives Matter movement is a perfect example for the Structural Strain Theory,

in which the theory refers to the pressure caused from social factors, including but not limited to,

a difference in income level, or lack of quality education. According to an article written by Dr.

Stephanie Medley-Rath, assistant professor of sociology at Indiana University Kokomo,

Structural Strain theory was developed by a sociologist named Robert K. Merton. This theory
mainly focuses on the underprivileged group (Medley-Rath, 2015). In this case, the individuals

of the movement most likely do not have the intention of achieving cultural goals. Due to this,

strain social movements are created. One crucial social movement is the Resource Mobilization

Theory, which is also applied to social movement. This theory has five main principles. The

social movement is no longer considered irrational because this movement is significantly

influenced by power imbalances and interest conflicts. This movement is effective partly due to

the resources and organization behind it. Therefore, the more centralized and formally structured

a social movement is, the more impactful it will be due to qualities such as a group strategy and

the political climate. Movements like this are supported with efforts and finances by volunteer

staff, local leadership, collective actions, and donated resources from direct beneficiaries. There

have been arguments saying that social movements that are based on Resource Mobilization

theory form from changes in group resources and organization. In sum, Social Mobilization is

the process of persuading individuals to join and support an organization that is focused on

making social changes. It is a significantly effective theory as its resources play a major role in

keeping the movements running. These resources go beyond finance because they also include

physical goods, human resources, and co-operation within the organization. Mass Society Theory

refers to the mob mentality of when a large group of people have the same mindset. For example,

this theory is used to explain the #MeToo movement and #BlackLivesMatter where victims of

sexual assaults and racial discrimination who may feel threatened at first, but then through the

empowerment of others with the same experience who speak out, also feel the urge to join the

movements. This theory was also strong during the 20th century, the time of Stalinism, Nazism,

and Fascism when people divided into sides that resembled their beliefs mostly.
 Deprivation Theory is also one of the most important theories that are applied to social

movements. Deprivation Theory refers to the actions of groups who are oppressed or deprived of

rights that other people in their society enjoy. According to American sociologist Charles Glock,

deprivation is distinguished by five types, depending on the kinds of strain felt: economic, social,

organismic, ethical, and psychic deprivation (Glock, 1964). For example, sex workers joined the

Sex Workers’ Rights Movement because they recognize the sense of oppression and lack of

protection towards those who are involved in the sex industry. However, critics state that

Deprivation Theory does not explain why some people participate in the Animal Rights’

Movement where they do not benefit from it.

Social movements began their early growth back in the mid-18th century. These

movements were derived from various reasons and formed by different groups of people that had

a common goal. These groups, whether or not they are formally formed, strive for a social

change to form a better community. These social movements are not limited to the size because

social issues can take place in different levels, such as local, state, national, or even global level.

There are four main theoretical perspectives on social movements, including Structural Strain

theory, Resource Mobilization theory, Mass Society Theory, and Deprivation theory. These

perspectives demonstrate the purposeful nature of this collective behavior.

Analytical Section:

As stated, social movements are enacted as a result of an impulse due to the injustice or

immorality of an event in hopes of seeking change. Although the #BlackLivesMatter and

#MeToo movements are caused by differentiating factors than that of the Animal Rights

Movement, all three are the result stemming from an impulse; the individual's belief that the

situation was unjustified, immoral, or both. Theories such as the Strain Theory indirectly
promotes for the development of animal abuse; due to struggles to acquire sufficient income or

education, these failures will amplify and promote individuals’ desire to conduct crimes due to

stress. In a sense, individuals may relieve such stress by inflicting abuse upon animals, whether it

is their own or another’s. Although the Animal Rights Movement also focuses on a wide array of

farm animals, another way they counter such outrages, but on a smaller scale is through local

shelters. Participants who volunteer at these shelters have similar mindsets in which they wish to

help animals. The Mass Society and Resource Mobilization theory are demonstrated within

shelters through the numerous volunteers that participate to help care for, tend to, and seek

loving homes for many animals as a result of their abuse and abandonment or through generous

donations to continue caring for them. Another example of the Mass Society theory that's

strongly supported and recognized in the present day would be Hope for Paws; an online

organization that records and documents their heroic acts of saving animals from cruelty. By

visually showing society their rescues and results, individuals who weren’t previously open to

volunteering, begin to volunteer or donate supplies to the organization; leading to the Resource

Mobilization theory. Many animals that are found within shelters are often strays, and more

importantly, strays that have been left behind after a series of physical abuse by neglectful

owners in which situations where they are often deprived of proper nutritious meals or care and

attention.

Conclusion:

In our beautiful world, animals definitely have the right to live a life free of pain and

suffering. Just because humans are at the top of the food chain, it does not mean that we should

be the only ones with rights. Resource Mobilization theory helps support Animal Rights

Movement because the majority of people around the world love animals, which explains the
likeliness of them spending a great amount of time advocating for animals and encouraging

others to do the same thing. Mass Society theory is thriving in today’s world of modern

technology, specifically social media. Social media is a quick and effective way to spread

awareness about Animal Rights Movement to everyone across the world. We access a great

amount of information on the internet and therefore it is the ideal platform to exhibit pictures and

details of the movement in order to gain more supporters. Strain theory contribute to the rise of

this movement because without the deviant behaviors towards animals, there would be no need

for Animal Rights Movement. Deprivation theory also explains the creation of this movement

because as intelligent beings, we are constantly looking for better living conditions for not only

ourselves but also other beings.

 References

Glock, C. Y. (1964). The Role of Deprivation in the Origin and Evolution of Religious Groups.
Religion and Social Conflict , ed. R. Lee and M. E. 24-36
Lawler, A. (1996). Life Sciences: Animal Activists Target NASA Mission. Science, 272(5258),
26-26. doi:10.1126/science.272.5258.26
Holden, C. (1989). Monkey euthanasia stalled by activists. Science,244(4911), 1437-1437.
doi:10.1126/science.2499929
Medley-Rath, S. (2015). Structural Strain Theory and the Baltimore Riots. Sociology in Focus.
Trull, F. L. (1999). Biomedical Attacks. Science, 286(5444).
doi:10.1126/science.286.5444.1477b