ABSTRACT
This project is based on grounded qualitative methods (Glaser and Strauss 1967), focusing on the deeper subjective meaning of experiences for individuals (Thagaard 2011: 38) and of phenomena. While this phenomenological approach is most often used to explore how experiences are understood and to frame the life world of humans, in this book, I extend this approach to include non-human animal victims. The underlying foundation of this is to actively apply intuition and empathy (Donovan and Adams 1996; Kheel 1996; Sollund 2017a), in order to try to understand and feel the experiences of the animal victims of the trade and the harms done to them. I am, of course, also interested in how my human informants perceive their reality, the WLT and the ways in which this harm is addressed, and in relation to reptile keepers I also use my intuition and empathy to fully comprehend their experiences, yet my compassion with the animal victims is my guide. While I have a green criminology–grounded point of departure, I will allow my findings to direct me theoretically. As a green criminologist, I am theoretically and intellectually open minded in that I employ perspectives that can add value to the analysis of my empirical findings (see Brisman 2014; South 2014; South et al. 2013; White 2008).
