DOG BITES: PERCEPTION AND PREVENTION Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy by Sara Cecylia Owczarczak-Garstecka. 22 April 2020 Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 8 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................... 10 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 11 1.1 On nature (and culture) of dog bites .................................................................................... 11 1.2 Context of the study ............................................................................................................. 13 Changing welfare of dogs .............................................................................................. 13 Changing relationships with dogs ................................................................................. 14 Changing expectations of dogs ..................................................................................... 16 Context of bite prevention ............................................................................................ 17 Dog bites in Liverpool.................................................................................................... 20 1.3 Positionality and research motivation .................................................................................. 20 1.4 Methodological context ........................................................................................................ 21 1.5 Research objectives .............................................................................................................. 22 1.6 Thesis structure ..................................................................................................................... 23 Literature Review .......................................................................................................................... 25 2.1 Scope and structure of the review ........................................................................................ 25 2.2 Realist approaches to risk: epidemiology of dog bites ......................................................... 25 Overview of the realist approach .................................................................................. 25 Limitations of epidemiological approaches .................................................................. 30 2.3 Risk is shaped by perception: psychological views of risk .................................................... 31 Psychometric model: Can familiarity and dread shape perception of risk in dogs? ..... 32 Biases in perception of risk ........................................................................................... 32 Drawing on emotions to assess the risk ....................................................................... 33 Individual characteristics shaping risk perception ........................................................ 34 Risk as an effect of communication .............................................................................. 34 Critique of psychological studies of risk ........................................................................ 35 2.4 Risk is constructed: sociological approaches to risk ............................................................. 35 Symbolic/cultural approach to risk ............................................................................... 36 Risk society theory ........................................................................................................ 38 Governmentality theory ................................................................................................ 40 2.5 Understanding behaviours around dogs and changing them ............................................... 42 Demographic characteristics of people at risk of unintentional injuries ...................... 42 Contexts in which bites occur ....................................................................................... 43 Barriers to injury prevention: problematic perceptions ............................................... 44 1 Barriers to injury prevention: social norms and socio-economic factors ..................... 45 2.6 Models of accident prevention ............................................................................................. 48 Approaches to incident prevention .............................................................................. 49 Behaviour change frameworks ..................................................................................... 49 2.7 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 55 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 56 3.1 Methodological orientation .................................................................................................. 57 Using symbolic interactionism framework to understand how meaning of dog bites develops 57 Using ethnographic methods to follow risk across multiple fieldwork sites ................ 59 Ontological orientation: developing an understanding of partial, situated knowledge 61 Positionality and reflexivity ........................................................................................... 61 3.2 Description of study sites ...................................................................................................... 64 Delivery companies ....................................................................................................... 64 Dog shelters .................................................................................................................. 64 Health and Safety Executive ......................................................................................... 65 Dog owners and bite victims ......................................................................................... 65 3.3 Ethical considerations ........................................................................................................... 66 3.4 Participant recruitment ......................................................................................................... 67 3.5 Data collection ...................................................................................................................... 68 Participant-observations ............................................................................................... 69 Interviews ...................................................................................................................... 70 Focus-group discussions ............................................................................................... 71 Document analysis ........................................................................................................ 72 3.6 Analysis ................................................................................................................................. 73 Data transcription ......................................................................................................... 73 Data anonymisation ...................................................................................................... 73 Qualitative coding and analysis..................................................................................... 74 Exploration of perceptions of dog bites among YouTube™ viewers and attributions of blame .. 75 4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 75 4.2 Methods ................................................................................................................................ 77 4.3 Ethical statement .................................................................................................................. 80 4.4 Findings ................................................................................................................................. 80 The nature of a dog ....................................................................................................... 81 Controlling dogs ............................................................................................................ 82 2 Breed determinism ....................................................................................................... 82 Bad owners, bad parents .............................................................................................. 83 Blaming the victim ........................................................................................................ 84 Bites as a normal part of human-dog interactions ....................................................... 84 4.5 Discussion .............................................................................................................................. 85 4.6 Strengths and limitations ...................................................................................................... 88 4.7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................