Social Control and Dogs: A Sociohistorical Analysis

• NCJ Number: 167285
• Journal: Crime and Delinquency Volume: 43 Issue: 2 Dated: (April 1997) Pages: 123-147
• Author(s): J R Lilly; M B Puckett
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 25 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper reviews the history of dogs as an agent of social control and offers suggestions for further research.

Abstract

Throughout various periods of human conflict and disorder, dogs have often been used in the implementation and maintenance of social control policies and practices. A discussion of the centrality of animals to the maintenance of social order is first discussed as rooted in the Durkheimian tradition, under which animals are held responsible for criminal acts against humans. From this view it is logical to assume that animals can also be trained to achieve good works and serve the needs of humans. This paper examines the sociohistorical development and maintenance of connections between dogs and social order. The key issues are the changing social contexts that have transformed dogs into devices of control, which in turn have facilitated forced conformity through threat, fear, and violence. Believing that there is no better example of the use of dogs as agents of social control than war, this paper contains a section on this topic, followed by a review of the use of dogs in European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. Other sections of the paper focus on the use of dogs in security and protection and the use of dogs by law enforcement personnel in their social control duties. In a discussion of future issues and research, the paper advises that it is reasonable to expect dogs to be used increasingly in various areas of law enforcement within and beyond the bounds of the United States; and if the past is any predictor of the future, law enforcement innovations often promise more than can be delivered and generate unintended consequences. Scholars and policymakers should expect the increased use of security dogs to have some of the same consequences as past law enforcement policies, including disputed costs, interagency competition, and political agendas. 5 notes and 15 references