Is Animal Cruelty as a Child Connected to Future Deviant Behavior?
Decades of Documentation Show the Proof
Jackie Phillips
Sociology, Post University
SOC 324 – Deviant Behavior, Deviant Behavior Final Paper
Professor Joshelle Jackson
Due Date: 11:59 pm EST, Sunday of Unit 7
Is Animal Cruelty as a Child Connected to Future Deviant Behavior?
Decades of Documentation Show the Proof
To begin, there is substantial documentation dating back decades to show that there is a strong connection to violence and abuse towards animals as a juvenile and future deviant behavior as an adult. One of the challenges with law enforcement is the large number of departments in both cities, counties and states that get involved in these cases. Animal law is handled by Animal Control agencies in that area and then the human laws are enforced by many different agencies depending on the age of the human and the laws that are considered broken.
“Aggressive behaviors have the tendency to present themselves alongside other forms of antisocial behavior, such as crimes against property, substance abuse, animal cruelty, and so forth. Therefore, individuals who commit animal cruelty are likely to commit other forms of deviance as well, both violent and nonviolent. From this point of view, no assumptions are made with regard to chronological order; consequently, animal cruelty might occur before, after or concurrently with human violence.” (Longobardi C., Badenes-Ribera L., 2018)
What are the causes of this deviant behavior?
One study looked at the connection between animal cruelty and exposure to domestic violence in children’s homes.
“Children exposed to domestic violence were significantly more likely to have been cruel to animals than children not exposed to violence. The age and gender of children who were cruel to animals did not differ from children who were not cruel to animals. However, exposed children cruel to animals were significantly older than non-exposed children cruel to animals.” (Currie, C., 2006)
Another study looked at the connection between family violence and whether children in the family exhibited animal cruelty and fire setting.
“Marital violence, paternal pet abuse and paternal drinking were related to fire setting, whereas exposure to marital violence and paternal and maternal harsh parenting were associated with animal cruelty. Regression analyses indicated that after controlling for conduct disorder, fire setters were 3.0 times at risk of juvenile court referral and 3.3 times at risk of arrest for a violent crime. Analysis of self-reports of delinquency replicated these results. Animal cruelty was related to self-reported violent crime. These findings indicate that family variables increase the likelihood of childhood fire setting and animal cruelty and that these behaviors are related to adolescent delinquency.” (Becker, K., Herrera V., 2004)
Why is this type of deviant behavior important to study?
There are many behaviors that appear to be related to whether a child experiences and exposed to different forms of violence in their life. There are connections to sexual assault, interpersonal violence, abuse of drugs and alcohol and connection to violent criminals in their life.
“Significant relationships were discovered between Active animal cruelty (such as beating or stabbing) and both interpersonal violence and substance abuse as well as between sexually abusing animals and sexual offending against humans. These results point to the need for increased collaboration between animal welfare agencies and the social service and legal entities responsible for protecting domestic violence victims, children, elders, and others at risk groups.” (Levitt, L., 2016)
“In his 1995 book, "The Mind Hunter," FBI criminal profiler John Douglas states that a "new type of violent criminal has surfaced -- the serial offender, who learns by experience and tends to get better and better at what he does." Douglas notes that the criminals' earliest act of violence is often the torture and/or killing of pets or wildlife, graduating to brutalizing younger siblings before taking intensified perversities into the streets or engaging in domestic violence. Unimpeded acts of violence beget acts of increased violence. To the depraved person who feels powerful and in control only while inflicting pain or death, that "high" must continually be sustained by more heinous or morbid acts.” (Daugherty, P., 2005)
“The Macdonald triad refers to the idea that there are three signs that can indicate whether someone will grow up to be a serial killer or other kind of violent criminal:
- being cruel or abusive to animals, especially pets
- setting fire to objects or otherwise committing minor acts of arson
- Regularly wetting the bed.
This idea first gained momentum when researcher and psychiatrist J.M. Macdonald published a controversial review in 1963 of earlier studies that suggested a link between these childhood behaviors and a tendency toward violence in adulthood.” (Legg, T., 2020)
What is the past research on the topic?
“Carol J. Adams' essay "Woman-battering and harm to animals" is published in the 1995 book Animals and Women: Feminist Theoretical Explorations. In the essay, Adams argues that the connection between women's oppression and animal abuse is not only valid, but also contributes to the struggle for women's rights. Adams's points include:
- Batterers use animal abuse to control and intimidate women and children.
- Patriarchal culture explains violence against women, children, and animals.
- The disadvantaged status of women, children, and animals in a male-dominated society enables violent men to victimize them.
- The presence of animals is often used to announce oppression.
- Children who are sexually abused are kept hostage by threats to animals.
- Acts of violence against animals continually ratify male control.
- People wrongly interpret the “dominion” over animals discussed in Genesis 1:26 to justify cruel acts against animals.
Animals and Women: Feminist Theoretical Explorations is a collection of essays that explores the connections between feminism and animal defense. The book was edited by Carol J. Adams and Josephine Donovan.” (No author given, 2024)
“The Etiology of Animal Abuse
Although "bad seed" interpretations of youth violence have waxed and waned throughout history, it is clear that attention to the family, social, and community contexts of children’s lives is critical for understanding violent behavior. This holds true for the special case of animal abuse. As Widom has demonstrated, a history of child abuse and neglect places individuals at risk for later delinquency, adult criminal offending, and violent criminal activity. This section addresses factors in children’s lives that have been associated with increased levels of animal abuse. The factors range from negative but relatively normative experiences (corporal punishment) to potentially more devastating circumstances (physical abuse, sexual abuse, and domestic violence).” (No author given, 2001)
Discuss two previous studies that show this connection
“Investigations about the “Link”, which is the association between interpersonal violence and animal abuse, began in 1963 with the emergence of a triad of enuresis, fire-setting and animal cruelty during childhood and its use as an indicator of criminal behavior toward humans during adulthood (Macdonald, 1963).” (Monsalve, S., Fernando, F., 2017)
“A self-report questionnaire designed to assess abusive childhood environments and exposure to animal cruelty was administered to 314 inmates in a prisoner classification center. Although high rates of physical punishment characterized the entire sample, persons charged with violent, but nonhomicidal crimes reported more severely punitive childhood histories than those charged with homicidal crimes, sex offenses, and nonviolent offenses. Some exposure to animal cruelty was widespread in the sample, but there was no association between experiencing animal cruelty and the type of crime committed.” (Miller, K., Knutson, J., 1997)
“According to Phil Arkow, humane educator and chair of the Latham Foundation’s Child and Family Violence Prevention Project, “Animal abuse must be redefined as a crime of violence...” and “it must be perceived and documented as a human welfare issue.” Judy Priess of the SASA Crisis Center says a connection needs to be established “that hurting an animal is just as bad as hurting a person.” She believes that if one can prevent a person from abusing animals as an adolescent, one can stop him from abusing people as an adult.” (Hodges, C., 2008)
What is the current cost to individuals and society?
“The cost to individuals and society due to animal cruelty and childhood abuse is significant, encompassing not only direct medical and legal expenses but also long-term psychological impacts, increased risk of future violence, and societal disruption, with a strong correlation between the two forms of abuse, meaning witnessing or perpetuating animal cruelty can be a red flag for potential child abuse and vice versa; this can lead to a cycle of violence within communities.” (Boyden, P., 2020)
What are two to three intervention strategies currently in place or possible new ones to confront this type of deviant behavior?
Here are some ways to address the issue:
Prevention Programs: Early intervention and education programs to teach children about empathy and responsible animal care.
Community Outreach: Raising awareness about the link between animal cruelty and child abuse and encouraging reporting of suspected cases.
Mental Health Support: Providing accessible mental health services for individuals who have experienced abuse, including those who have abused animals.
Legal Measures: Enacting strong laws against animal cruelty and holding perpetrators accountable.
“Preventing Animal Abuse and Human Violence
Abuse is often cyclical and inter-generational. The more cases of human and animal abuse that are reported, and the earlier that professionals can intervene to break the cycles of violence, the higher the rate of success.
“Cross-Training, Cross-Reporting, Community Coalitions Against Violence, Legislation, Care for Pet Survivors of Domestic Violence, Humane education:” (No author given, 2024)
“Abuse is often cyclical and inter-generational. The more cases of human and animal abuse that are reported, and the earlier that professionals can intervene to break the cycles of violence, the higher the rate of success.
Acknowledging the link between animal abuse and other forms of family violence provides professionals in all fields with another tool to prevent violence in our society. By working together and sharing this information with others, public awareness will be raised which, in turn, will increase intervention and effectiveness in the prevention of violence and family maltreatment in all its forms.” (No author given, 2024)
In conclusion, there are decades of well documented cases and proof that there are direct links to animal cruelty and violence and abuse while as a juvenile and future adult behavior. One of the terms for this proof is called The Link, and another is called the MacDonald Triad. The challenge is working with the large number of agencies that are involved in both animal cruelty cases and child abuse cases at any time. I was happy to find a massive amount of data and statistics and reports about the very important link to the two types of violence.
References
Becker, K., Herrera V., 2004, Science Direct, A Study of Firesetting and Animal Cruelty in Children: Family Influences and Adolescent Outcomes, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S089085670961409X
Boyden, P., 2020, National Library of Medicine, Understanding the Link between Animal Cruelty and Family Violence: The Bioecological Systems Model, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7246522/
Currie, C., 2006, Science Direct, Animal Cruelty by Children Exposed to Domestic Violence, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S014521340600055X
Daugherty, P., 2005, Los Angeles Policing Community, Animal abusers may be warming up for more, http://www.lacp.org/2005-Articles-Main/LAPDsDedicatedAnimalCrueltyUnit.html
Hodges, C., 2008, Michigan State University College of Law, The Link: Cruelty to Animals and Violence Towards People, https://www.animallaw.info/article/link-cruelty-animals-and-violence-towards-people#:~:text=63.3%25%20of%20men%20who%20had,abuse%20during%20childhood%20or%20adolescence.
Legg, T., 2020, Healthline, Can the Macdonald Triad Predict Serial Killers https://www.healthline.com/health/macdonald-triad
Levitt, L., 2016, Science Direct, Criminal histories of a subsample of animal cruelty offenders, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S135917891630043X
Longobardi C., Badenes-Ribera L., 2018, Science Direct, The relationship between animal cruelty in children and adolescent and interpersonal violence: A systematic review, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S135917891730263X#:~:text=Male%20children%20and%20adolescents%20are,subsequent%20violent%20or%20antisocial%20behavior
Miller, K., Knutson, J., 1997, Science Direct, Reports of severe physical punishment and exposure to animal cruelty by inmates convicted of felonies, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0145213496001317
Monsalve, S., Fernando, F., 2017, Science Direct, The connection between animal abuse and interpersonal violence: A review from the veterinary perspective, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0034528816305653a
No author given, 2024, Attorneys for Animals, Carol J. Adams, 25 years, 7 Questions, https://www.attorneysforanimals.org/25th-anniversary-1995-to-2020/25-years-7-questions/carol-j-adams-25-years-7-questions/
No author given, 2024, National Link Coalition, Preventing Animal Abuse and Human Violence, https://nationallinkcoalition.org/faqs/prevention
No author given, 2001, Juvenile Justice Bulletin, Animal Abuse and Youth Violence,
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