Linking Animal Cruelty and Family Violence By Lisa Anne Zilney

Chapter 1

Theoretical Foundations

Criminology And
Environmental Sociology

Although criminology and environmental sociology could be considered reasonable areas in which research would be conducted into the link between humans and animals, the issue has, in reality, received minimal attention. Because the relevance of nonhumans has been absent from environmental sociology and criminology, it is important to consider: why nonhumans should be included in these fields; how nonhumans fit into the prescribed definitions of environmental sociology and criminology; and how both environmental sociology and criminology could be broadened by the inclusion of nonhuman issues.

In 1978, William Catton and Riley Dunlap boldly announced the birth of environmental sociology as a distinct area of inquiry. Catton and Dunlap defined this new field as the study of the reciprocal relationship between the environment and society. Catton and Dunlap outlined the basic elements of this new discipline, and discussed philosophical and conceptual barriers to understanding the relationships between societies and environments. Catton and Dunlap argued that sociologists failed to recognize the importance of the physical environment in shaping human