Role Of Functionalism In Animal Testing

Animal testing has been around since ancient times. Ancient greek and Romans tested different medical procedures on animals purely to satisfy curiosity. Because anaesthetics were not discovered until near the end of the nineteenth century, all of these experiments were tested on animals without pain relief. Anyone that has accidently stepped on their dog’s paw, knows that animals definitely feel pain. Back in the 1500’s there was an Anatomy and Physiology professor, named Andreas Vesalius. He and his students were located in Italy. They conducted an experiment on a pregnant dog and her soon to be born pups. At the time, they were not aware that this dog was pregnant, they were simply doing a dissection on a live, non-anesthetized dog. They …show more content…
One of which, is Functionalism. The base of this perspective can be traced back to Emile Durkheim. He explains that everything within a society works together to maintain life. Current theorists also believe that in order for society to maintain itself, it has to have balance. Functions can be defined as actions that create positive outcomes for society (Curry). Fighting for animal rights is a function because it creates a positive outcome for the animals. Animals are necessary for our ecosystem to have equilibrium. Ecosystems need animals because each different one plays an important role. Two examples of beneficial animals are monkeys and rats; the two main animals that experience the horrors of lab testing. Wild rats spread seeds around fields. This helps plants grow, which then improves the quality of air and increases the number of crops that can be harvested. Monkeys are also key in the spreading of seeds. Monkeys play a key role in spreading tree seeds, which creates more habitats for animals that are slowly losing their homes to loggers. Dysfunctions are defined as actions that create negative outcomes for society (Curry). Animal testing would be a dysfunction because it leads to several negative outcomes. One negative outcome is that many animals, that are needed to maintain equilibrium, are murdered; if they manage to survive, they develop severe mutations, harmful side effects, and …show more content…
Conflict theorists considers society to be a collection held together by social power (Curry). Animal testing is an example of the conflict theory because researchers dominate the animals they are testing products on. Dominance is defined as power held over others; exactly what the researchers are doing. The researchers have all the power in the world to control what products are tested on what animals, while the animals have no say in the matter whatsoever. Another word that is commonly heard when talking about the conflict theory is inequality. Inequality is when two things have a difference in size, degree, or power. Lab rats have virtually zero strength when compared to the lab technicians that are holding them down and rubbing potentially poisonous trial lotion on their recently shaved bodies, while the technicians are covered from head to toe in skin protective suits. One final word that is related to the conflict perspective is alienation. Alienation can be explained as the state or experience of being isolated from a group or an activity to which one should belong or in which one should be involved. Animals are disfigured when they are tested on. Their fur color gets changed, chemicals burn them, they sometimes lose limbs. These results cause them to be alienated from their group or family. Animals notice when other animals don't look the same as them. If a group of monkeys notice that one of their group has burnt skin