Normalizing passive cruelty: The excuses and justifications of animal hoarders

Abstract

Press reports frequently characterize animal hoarders as bad, mad, or sad people. This descriptive study identifies the accounts hoarders use to neutralize these negative portrayals. A total of 163 articles representing 118 hoarding cases between 2000 to 20003 were content-analyzed. Findings indicate that hoarders employ a variety of justifications and excuses to explain and normalize their treatment of animals. Justifications include denying wrongdoing, being a Good Samaritan, and professing to be victims of the system, while excuses include attributing their poor performance to external events, appealing to defeasibility, scapegoating, and self-handicapping. The results point to the value of these accounts to hoarders as well as to authorities and experts who deal with and manage this behavior.

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