Animal Abuse leads to Human Abuse
By Mary Lou Randour Ph.d
Reasons include:
Lack of family involvement as a child Pets who are not part of the family and locked
outside Children who are exposed to spousal abuse – even spousal dating of many
Children who are unfamiliar with proper disciplinary actions Because of the success of
many animal advocacy groups, including the twothat I represent —Psychologists for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals and
the Doris Day Animal Foundation — many professionals from a variety of disciplines as
well as the general public have become aware of the link between animal abuse and human
violence. The FBI’s investigation into the childhood of serial killers, and their
discovery of juvenile animal abuse in most of these cases, drew the public’s
attention to this link initially. When I make presentations to various audiences —
whether educators, mental health professionals, police, prosecutors, domestic violence
advocates, child protection workers, or animal control officers — most know that
serials killers started their grisly careers by torturing and killing animals.
Less well known is the fact that many of the recent school shooters also engaged in animal
cruelty before turning their aggression against their classmates, teachers, and parents.
Kip Kinkel was reported to have blown up cows and decapitated cats; Luke Woodham tortured
Sparkle, his own dog, to death, describing her dying howls as a "thing of
beauty"; and Andrew Golden reputedly shot dogs with a .22 caliber rifle.
Golden’s own dog "mysteriously" suffered a wound from a .22 just days
before he assaulted his classmates. Serial killers and school shooters supply dramatic
currency to the link between animal abuse and human violence. Their lurid nature attracts
the attention of individuals and the media and, in this way, can furnish an opening for a
serious discussion of the many permutations and implications of this important link. I
think it is a tactical and strategic mistake, however, for animal advocates to focus on
this part of the link; it is good for an opener, but we should quickly move on to the more
substantive evidence, which will have more far-reaching implications. While many of us can
be momentarily drawn to the macabre very few, if any of us, think that our sons,
daughters, nieces and nephews, or next door neighbors are budding serial killers or school
shooters. Let’s face it: The odds of a child becoming a serial killer or school
gunman are quite remote. Very few people can identify with that prospect and, I believe,
that leads to the possibility of them dismissing, or overlooking, evidence of animal
cruelty that they might otherwise notice. Sure, their nephew has been known to throw rocks
at neighborhood cats, but they know he is a "good kid" who goes to church, does
well at school, and has won badges in his Cub Scout troop. What’s to worry about?
He’s definitely not serial killer or school shooter material. If we should emphasize
the empirical basis for the link instead of the more dramatic examples, what exactly do we
know? What does the research say about animal abuse? Who commits it? How do they turn out?
What should we be looking for? One body of well-established research links animal
abuse with criminal behavior. For example, one well-designed study conducted by Arnold
Arluke and Jack Levin, two sociologists, and Carter Luke of the Massachusetts Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), examined the records of that agency for the
years 1975 to 1996. |
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They identified 153 men who had been prosecuted
for animal cruelty and compared their criminal records to a group of "next door
neighbors" — men who were similar in age, ethnic background, neighborhood, and
economic status. Their findings were convincing: men who abused animals were five times
more likely to have been arrested for violence against humans, four times more likely to
have committed property crimes, and three times more likely to have records for drug and
disorderly conduct offenses.
Another group of research studies explored the childhood of individuals who were
incarcerated or committed to psychiatric hospitals for criminal offenses, comparing them
to "normal" men. Would the childhood of the men in prison and psychiatric
hospitals for criminal behavior reveal more juvenile animal cruelty when compared to a
group of "normal" men? After conducting a number of their own studies, and
reviewing the research of their colleagues, Kellert and Felthous arrived at a definitive
result. They stated that there was a significant association between acts of cruelty to
animals in childhood and serious, recurrent aggression against people as an adult. As further corroboration, in one study these researchers determined that the
most aggressive criminals had committed the most severe acts of animal cruelty in
childhood. One could conclude from these studies that animal abuse is associated with
other types of criminal and anti-social behavior and that childhood animal abuse is an
important warning sign; not all children who abuse animals become juvenile offenders or
adult criminals, but they are more likely than their counterparts who do not abuse animals
to do so. Being physically cruel to animals as one of the criterion for a diagnosis of
conduct disorder in childhood was added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders in 1987. Substantial proportions of children diagnosed with conduct disorder
continue to show behaviors in adulthood that meet criteria for Antisocial Personality
Disorder. The earlier the diagnosis of conduct disorder the greater the risk for being
diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder and Substance-Related in adulthood.
We also know that animal abuse is closely associated with family violence, and knowledge
of this link has assisted professionals in offering more effective services to people and
animals. In a number of studies — one national and the others statewide — 71 to
83% of the women entering domestic violence shelters reported that their partners also
abused or killed the family pet. This stems heavily from a difference in how they were
raised as children. Those who had inside pets learned much quicker and a much more
compassionate means of caring for their pets as well as family members and friends. Just
as animal abuse is related to domestic violence, so it is also related to child abuse,
another form of family violence. A New Jersey study of 53 families under the jurisdiction
of the child welfare agency looked at the co-occurrence of child abuse and animal abuse.
Researchers observed animal abuse in 88% of those families in which there was physical
abuse of children. Another study arrived at similar findings. Awareness of the link
between animal abuse and family violence has produced a number of innovative programs and
procedural changes. For example, intake questions for womeions for women seeking
shelter now include one about the need for a safe place for the family pets. For full
version of this please see http://www.21stcenturycares.org/links.htm
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