養狗交朋友雙語閲讀

Small Study: Young Gang Members Want Dogs Mostly For Companionship

養狗交朋友

“I don’t know if you’ve ever walked a pit bull. You owe it to your life to walk a pit bull down the street, I’m telling you. It’s like a gun you can pet, it’s the only way to describe it, it’s awesome.” Comedian Bill Burr.

“不知道你有沒有遛過鬥牛犬。你養着一隻鬥牛犬並帶着它倒街上去遛。我告訴你呀，它就是你可以用來寵愛的武器，就是這種感覺，真的是太棒了。”喜劇演員比爾·波爾描述道。

It’s a stereotypical image: a gang member strolls the streets walking his big, scary dog. And it’s assumed that the dog is there for protection and as a status symbol. But now a British study reveals that, for young gang members anyway, the primary reasons for having a dog are not those related to gang activities. The research is in the journal Crime, Law and Social Change. [Jennifer Maher and Harriet Pierpoint, Friends, status symbols and weapons: the use of dogs by youth groups and youth gangs]

這是一個很老套的畫面：某幫派的一個成員在街上遛他那嚇人的大狗。而這條狗可能只是起的一個保護作用和一個地位的象徵。但是最 近一項英國研究顯示，對於年輕的幫派成員來説，養條狗最主要的目的其實跟幫派活動沒有什麼太大關係。這項研究發表在《犯罪，法律和社會變革》期刊中。

Researchers went along with professionals who work with gang members to interview 25 young people in South Wales. They also spoke with animal welfare workers and gang outreach pros. Most gang members owned a dog and most of the dogs were bull breeds. Sadly, some dogs were indeed used as weapons, for fighting other dogs or were simply neglected. But the reasons that the owners themselves discussed for wanting a dog in the first place were mostly something to socialize with friends over and simple companionship.

與幫派打交道的專家們和研究人員一起對南威爾士25名年輕人進行採訪。他們也同動物救濟工作者和幫派外擴人員交談。發部分幫派成員都有一條狗，並且大多數的'狗都是鬥牛犬的品種。可惜，一些狗確實是被當成武器去攻擊其他狗或者直接被忽視掉。但是狗主人最初養狗的原因大多數只是想與朋友建立簡單的社交關係。