Educational Course Offerings
Human-Animal Connections

COURSE DESCRIPTION (3 credits)

This course will explore the varied human-animal connections that emerge across the life span. We will examine both normative and dysfunctional relations between humans and animals (e.g., children, animals, and empathy, animal welfare issues related to human welfare). Our focus will be on published research and evaluation studies and directions for future study and exploration. This course will provide an overview of contemporary scholarly thought and empirical research on human-animal connections from infancy to the elder years.

COURSE RATIONALE

Existing animal-related courses in the current GSSW curriculum are oriented toward practice and therapeutic interventions. We will address normative aspects of human-animal interaction across the lifespan viewed through ecological/transactional, socio-emotional development, and cross-cultural lenses. Problematic relations between humans and animals will be examined from a number of theoretical perspectives (e.g., interpersonal violence, risk and resilience, developmental psychopathology). The course will conclude with an exploration of animal welfare agency programs and community collaborations directed at enhancing human-animal interactions (e.g., educational programs for young people, community services for elder adults and their pets, service animal training organizations and people with disabilities) and addressing problems in human-animal interactions (e.g., understanding animal abuse in the context of Conduct Disorder, dog-bite prevention, collaboration between domesti c violence agencies and animal welfare organizations to shelter the pets of women who are victims of intimate partner violence).

 

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Given regular class attendance, participation in class activities, completion of assigned readings, and completion of course assignments, students should, at the conclusion of the course, be able to demonstrate competence in the following domains of knowledge, skills, values, and ethics:

1. Knowledge

a. Describe the historical development of anthrozoology, or the study of human-animal interactions, as a field of scholarly inquiry.

b. Describe the parallel development of programs addressing animal welfare and human welfare.

c. Describe the major theoretical models for understanding human-animal interactions at each major developmental period.

d. Recognize cultural variations in the roles that pets play in human societies.

e. Explain the importance of attachment to and the impact of loss of and separation from animals (companion animals - at different developmental stages, service animals, police dogs, military working dogs, search-and-rescue animals).

f. Describe aspects of human-animal interactions that may pose a danger to human health and safety.

g. Summarize research findings on the relevance of attending to animal abuse in cases of child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, and elder adult maltreatment.

h. Recognize international variations in programs to address animal abuse.

2. Skills

a. Locate and evaluate current research that examines both positive and
problematic aspects of human-animal interactions.

b. Apply theory and research in the analysis of case situations that
illustrate beneficial aspects of human-animal interactions and case
situations that reflect deleterious aspects of human-animal interactions.

c. Map human-animal interaction research onto issues related to child
welfare, risk and resilience in youth, and the needs of elder adults and
people with disabilities.

d. Access resources, available from a variety of agencies, that illustrate
the importance of human-animal interaction study to the field of social
work.

3. Values and ethics

a. Identify the ways in which the value of human-animal interaction is a
social construction that has changed over historical time.

b. Evaluate personal attitudes and those of colleagues concerning the
importance of understanding human-animal interaction in the context of
social work.

c. Assess how personal experiences with pets and other animals, both
positive and negative, affect one’s evaluation of the significance of
human-animal interactions.

d. Describe challenges to beneficial human-animal interactions for those
experiencing economic stress and mental and physical health risks.

e. Appreciate and remain sensitive to individual and cultural variations in
the value placed on human-animal interactions.

f. Understand the importance of, and strategies for, engaging and partnering
with agencies and programs that include an overlap between human and animal
welfare.