Caring for those who care

Towards a More Expansive Understanding of 'Cultures of Care' in Laboratory Animal Facilities

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3977705
AutoresAnnabella Williams (0000-0003-0522-8525, Understanding Animal Research, London, UK, autor de correspondencia)
Año2023
Volumen24
Número1
Páginas31-48
Fecha de publicación2023-01-02
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSocial & Cultural Geography (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1464-9365 • E-ISSN: 1470-1197
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14649365.2021.1939123
OpenAlexW3168011111
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas7
Referencias citadas18

The importance of a Culture of Care is increasingly referred to in the literature surrounding laboratory animal science, with good care viewed as essential to the competent management of animal facilities. Yet 'culture of care' is poorly defined, with care often being seen as synonymous with an attention to animal welfare. This paper draws on data from focus groups with researchers and animal technologists working in UK animal research facilities to identify practices that support or negate a culture of care. Tronto's ethic of care is used as a framework to consider how caring cultures are shaped within laboratory animal facilities, revealing practices which support or limit care. I suggest that closer attention human–human as well as human–animal relations is central to more expansive understanding of a culture of care, one which values care labour, recognises the need for both practical and emotional support, and provides opportunities for technologists and researchers to develop attentiveness to one another's work. The paper also recognises key obstacles to developing a more expansive culture of care including institutional hierarchies, the need to realise scientific outcomes, and the preconceptions held by individuals who work in animal facilities

Animal welfare · Biology · Engineering ethics · Environmental ethics · Expansive · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Work (physics · Animal testing and alternatives · Engineering · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Human-Animal Interaction Studies · Ecology