Childhood Animal Cruelty Research Articles

A Preliminary Exploration of the Psychological Risk Factors for Childhood Animal Cruelty: The Roles of Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Empathy

ABSTRACT Despite growing awareness of the psychological issues associated with childhood animal cruelty, there is a scarcity of research carried out directly with children. This study investigates the psychological factors influencing the likelihood of a child harming animals, specifically the roles of attachment, empathy, executive functioning, issues related to externalizing behavior, and Callous Unemotional (CU) traits. The sample comprised children at high risk of animal harm referred to the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal’s Animal Guardians program (n = 9) and low-risk controls (n = 18) matched for age and school class. A range of assessment techniques was used over three interview sessions for each child. Externalizing problems were measured using teacher reports; attachment was blind-coded using the Child Attachment Play Assessment; executive functioning was assessed using a Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS); and empathy was measured using self-report and picture-based tasks, the Kids Empathy Development Scale. Children at high risk of animal harm were more likely to be insecurely attached (p = 0.002), scored significantly higher on Strengths and Difficulties (U = 1.5, p < 0.001) and CU traits (U = 6.4, p = 0.001) as rated by their teachers, scored lower on cognitive empathy (U = 36.5, p = 0.043), and performed more poorly on the DCCS test of executive functioning (U = 31.0, p = 0.014). No significant differences were found between high-risk and low-risk children on self-reported empathy or emotion recognition. We also found that insecure attachment was related to an increased score for many psychological risk factors. This exploratory study demonstrates that childhood animal harm can act as an indicator of a range of psychological issues and highlights the importance of designing appropriate interventions for this vulnerable population.

Understanding and Conceptualizing Childhood Animal Harm: A Meta-Narrative Systematic Review

ABSTRACT Several perspectives inform research on Childhood Animal Cruelty (CAC), but these perspectives are poorly integrated with each other and there is little dialogue with the rest of the child–animal interaction (CAI) literature. This study reviews the current empirical and theoretical literature on CAC to explore issues regarding research definitions and methodologies. Following the RAMESES guidelines, we performed a meta-narrative review of the CAC literature from 2010 to 2020, including theoretical papers and original research published in English. Four databases (OVID, Web of Science, PubMed, and EBSCOhost) were searched for terms relating to children, animals, and harm in the title and keyword fields. This generated 416 results, and 69 publications were reviewed here. We explore theories of CAC in relation to the historical research strands and discuss how well they are supported by existing empirical evidence. We thematically classified empirical study findings, which showed that (1) environmental factors that predict CAC include exposure to childhood adversity, especially experiences of violence and witnessing animal cruelty, (2) CAC is recurrent or has extreme links to later interpersonal violence, (3) psychological risk factors linked to CAC include externalizing disorders, lower empathy, lower self-esteem, poorer family functioning, and attitudes accepting of cruelty, (4) witnessing animal cruelty is a serious risk factor for a range of internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and (5) a range of psychosocial barriers exist in measuring and reporting CAC. Issues with measures, population selection, and definitions focusing only on more severe forms of CAC are factors which potentially constrain the generalizability of results. We highlight the need for developmentally appropriate definitions of CAC and methods of measurement and argue that the CAC literature is not well aligned with animal welfare legislation. We propose that CAC should be integrated into a broader spectrum of childhood behaviors toward animals.

Bestiality: A Cruelty Towards Animal

Bestiality is a kind of sexual deviance in which an individual is involved with an animal for the gratificationof his/her sexual desires.It can be considered as a severe form of cruelty towards animals. Few societies inthe world perceived bestiality as a cure for the sexually transmitted disease. However, such conduct is apunishable offense in the Indian legal system under Section- 377 IPC. For many years, animal cruelty hasbeen a concern of both legal and mental health care professionals. The psychological culture in the 1960sacknowledged childhood animal cruelty as a possible risk factor for violent conduct againsthuman beings.The present study aims to provide and explore the issue of human-animal sexual interactions and theirconsequences in society. For this purpose, doctrinal research design has been applied and relevant researcharticles, news reports,and blogs were collected from free online resources and analyzed. This researchdiscusses the various sexual deviations and the types of animals involved, accompanied by a comprehensiveaccount of the results from the few more recent studies. The studyexplains the possible motives for sex withanimals. Besides, how these motives can influence the psychological forensic assessment of offenders whohave sex with animals.

A Qualitative Study of Children's Accounts of Cruelty to Animals: Uncovering the Roles of Trauma, Exposure to Violence, and Attachment.

Childhood animal cruelty (CAC) is a risk for later interpersonal violence and a red flag for other forms of violence in the household, yet very few studies have spoken to children directly about their cruelty to animals. Animal Guardians (AG) is a humane education program run by the Scottish SPCA for children of age 5 to 12 years who have been cruel to animals or deemed at-risk. This research investigated how children referred to AG spoke about their experiences of animal cruelty and factors surrounding it. Research consent was obtained for 10 children (average age = 8.8 years, n = 9 males), referred concerning cruel/at-risk behavior toward their pets. The interview schedule combined techniques such as crafts, vignettes, open questions, and standardized measures. Interviews were qualitatively analyzed using content analysis and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Content analysis suggested that referred children (a) tended to have small attachment networks which often included pets, (b) tended to interpret ambiguous situations predominately negatively, (c) tended to like animals and see them as sentient, and (d) struggled admitting to cruelty. Three main superordinate themes emerged from the IPA: (a) Bonding to animals, (b) Exposure to/normalization of violence, and (c) Signs of emotional issues/trauma. Children who were referred for animal cruelty toward their pets were from vulnerable backgrounds, often had complex backdrops to their at-risk or cruel behavior, and sometimes had trouble regulating their emotions and behaviors. Programs hoping to address CAC should be aware of these complex emotional, psychological, and behavioral factors, tailoring interventions accordingly.

Children’s attitudes towards animal cruelty: Exploration of predictors and socio-demographic variations

ABSTRACTAssessing the risk for animal cruelty is imperative, yet understudied and problematic due to the sensitivity of the topic. Early prevention is critical, yet very little research examines cruelty when it first appears in childhood. The aim of this study was to explore children’s attitudes towards types of animal cruelty, to investigate potential demographic differences, and to examine potential associations between acceptance of cruelty and cognitive and affective factors that place children ‘at-risk’ for cruelty perpetration. Questionnaire data was collected from 1127 children in schools. The results indicate that cruelty attitudes are predicted by some demographic variables such as urban living, being male, younger age and not having pets, but depend on the type of animal cruelty. Acceptance of cruelty predicted low compassion and low reported humane behaviour towards animals. Acceptance of cruelty was predicted by negative attitudes towards animals, lower beliefs in animal minds and low attachment to pets, signifying the importance of targeting such variables in future prevention programmes. This study is an original contribution to research into childhood animal cruelty in the general population, with implications for designing and implementing early prevention programmes that tackle problematic attitudes to cruelty.

Animal maltreatment from ancient times to the 21st century: Foundation for a call to action now

Animal maltreatment from ancient times to the 21st century: Foundation for a call to action now

The predictive ability of childhood animal cruelty methods for later interpersonal crimes.

Research on the topic of childhood animal cruelty methods and their link to interpersonal violence is sparse. Most of the studies that do exist focus only on the frequencies of different methods of childhood animal cruelty. Only two studies to date have examined the predictive nature of these methods for later violence toward humans. One of these previous studies found that drowning and having sex with animals were predictive of later human violence, while the other found that sex with animals and the age at which the offenders began committing animal cruelty were its only statistically significant predictors. Using data collected from 257 anonymous self-reports by male inmates at a medium-security prison in a Southern state, we investigate the predictive ability of several retrospectively identified childhood animal cruelty methods (i.e., drowning, hitting/beating, hitting with rocks, shooting, kicking, choking, burning, stabbing, having sex, and starving/neglecting) for later violent crimes toward humans. Regression analyses revealed that recurrent (i.e., more than once) childhood animal cruelty and stabbing animals were the only statistically significant variables in the model that predicted recurrent interpersonal violence in adulthood.

Animal Cruelty among Children in Violent Households: Children’s Explanations of their Behavior

Despite increased recognition that childhood animal cruelty (CAC) is a risk factor for subsequent interpersonal violence, there is a dearth of research examining motivations for children’s animal cruelty behaviors in the context of violent households. The purpose of this study is to build on prior research in this area using a qualitative child-centered design to explore themes in children’s narratives about harming animals. We were specifically interested in learning: (1) what contextual or situational factors are related to CAC behaviors in the context of adverse family settings? (2) what do children’s accounts of their behaviors reveal about their beliefs about animal minds?, and (3) what are motivations for children’s perpetration of harm against animals? Forty-six children and their maternal caregivers were recruited from community-based domestic violence services. Children were asked to describe times when they had harmed animals; caregivers were interviewed separately about children’s harm to pets, and these data were used to triangulate patterns in the child data. Data were analyzed in Atlas.ti using the qualitative coding process of template analysis. Our thematic findings included: history of witnessing animal cruelty; history of witnessing pet neglect/abandonment; CAC with family members; minimization of animal harm; anthropomorphic beliefs about animal sentience; punishing pets out of anger; and curiosity. Our findings demonstrate that asking about children’s experiences with animals is an important part of the evaluation process for professionals who encounter children exposed to, or at risk for, experiencing family violence. Implications for research and intervention efforts are discussed.

An Exploratory Study of Domestic Violence: Perpetrators’ Reports of Violence Against Animals

ABSTRACTThe goal of the current exploratory study was to examine associations between animal cruelty (AC), intimate partner violence (IPV), and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) among incarcerated adult males. Forty-two men incarcerated in a state prison participated in the study; all participants were incarcerated for IPV and/or admitted to committing IPV in a past relationship. They completed measures on childhood animal cruelty (CAC), lifetime prevalence of AC, and IPV. It was hypothesized that men with ASPD diagnoses would report greater exposure to, and perpetration of, AC, as well as more severe IPV behaviors. It was also expected that lifetime exposure to, and perpetration of, AC would be associated with greater animal abuse in the context of IPV. Lastly, it was hypothesized that participants who reported exposure to, and perpetration of, AC would also report higher rates of IPV behaviors. Rates of animal cruelty were high in this sample. Approximately 36% of participants endorsed CAC, 81% reported animal cruelty perpetration in their lifetime, 85.7% reported being exposed to animal cruelty during their lifetime, 38% endorsed using threats against animals during a relationship conflict, and 52% reported abusing and/or killing a pet during a relationship conflict. CAC was significantly related to increased use of psychological abuse and sexual coercion in the context of intimate relationships. ASPD was not related to animal cruelty in the context of IPV. CAC was significantly associated with both threats to, and actual perpetration of, animal abuse during relationship conflicts. The limitations and implications of our findings are discussed in relation to future research.

Recurrent Childhood Animal Cruelty and Its Link to Recurrent Adult Interpersonal Violence.

In the early 1960s, researchers began to examine the potential link between childhood animal cruelty and future interpersonal violence. Findings since then have been inconsistent in establishing a relationship between the two. This may be due to researchers failing to measure the recurrency of childhood animal abuse and the recurrency of later violent acts committed in adulthood. The current study, using data from 257 inmates at a medium-security prison in a Southern state, is a replication of research conducted by Tallichet and Hensley, and Hensley, Tallichet, and Dutkiewicz, which examined this recurrency issue. The only statistically significant predictor of recurrent adult interpersonal violence in this study was recurrent childhood animal cruelty. Inmates who engaged in recurrent childhood animal cruelty were more likely to commit recurrent adult interpersonal violence. Respondents' race, education, and childhood residence were not significant predictors of the outcome variable.

Exploring the social and emotional context of childhood animal cruelty and its potential link to adult human violence

ABSTRACTThose who commit acts of animal cruelty may do so differently based upon how they individually experience such acts. These experiences may impact the link that exists between childhood animal abuse and later interpersonal violence. Limited research exists that examines how social and emotional factors such as being upset after committing animal cruelty may impact the progression from early acts of animal cruelty to later acts of adult violence against humans. Based on responses from 180 prison inmates in a Southern state, the current study examined the effects of onset and frequency of animal cruelty, covertness of animal cruelty, the commission of animal cruelty alone or in a group, and being upset after committing animal cruelty. Inmates who committed recurrent acts of childhood animal cruelty were more likely to commit recurrent acts of adult interpersonal violence.

Psychological Risk Factors for Childhood Nonhuman Animal Cruelty

Despite growing research into human-nonhuman animal relationships, little is known about childhood cruelty to nonhuman animals. The purpose of this review was to investigate the potential psychological risk factors for childhood cruelty to animals. The aim was to assemble, synthesize, and evaluate the quality and breadth of existing empirical research and highlight areas in need of further study. The review reveals a myriad of potential psychological risk factors associated with childhood animal cruelty, but highlights the decrease in publications on this topic over time and the lack of high-quality publications. Investigating the factors underlying cruel behavior toward animals has great implications for animal welfare and child wellbeing, and is vital for designing and implementing successful universal and targeted interventions to prevent cruelty to animals.

Children’s Beliefs about Animal Minds (Child-BAM): Associations with Positive and Negative Child–Animal Interactions

ABSTRACTChildren and animals can have a great impact on each other’s lives, yet little is known about the underpinnings of these relationships. Children’s interactions with animals may be influenced by their belief in animal minds, that animals are sentient and experience thoughts and feelings. This study introduces a newly developed measure of children’s beliefs about animal minds (Child-BAM) and investigates associations between it and factors relating to positive and negative interactions with animals. Using a questionnaire-based survey of over 1,000 6- to 13-year-olds in the UK, the results show that Child-BAM was associated with higher attachment to pets (p < 0.001), compassion (p < 0.001), humane (p < 0.001) and caring behavior (p < 0.001) toward animals, emotional attachment to animals (p = 0.003), and positive attitudes toward animals (p < 0.001). Child-BAM was also associated with less acceptance of intentional animal cruelty (p = 0.001), unintentional animal cruelty (p = 0.007), and animal neglect (p = 0.01). There was a significant difference in Child-BAM between children with pets (p = 0.013), children who had a pet of their own (p = 0.016), and age group (p < 0.001). This study enhances our understanding of the psychological underpinnings of child–animal relationships and highlights the implications for animal welfare education and for preventing childhood animal cruelty.

Does Witnessing Animal Cruelty and Being Abused During Childhood Predict the Initial Age and Recurrence of Committing Childhood Animal Cruelty?

The goal of the current study was to examine the association between demographic characteristics and childhood experiences on the respondents' age of committing childhood animal cruelty and its recurrency. Using data collected from 257 male inmates at a Southern medium-security state prison, the current study seeks to replicate a study by Hensley, Tallichet, and Dutkiewicz. Results revealed that those respondents who were physically abused as children reported engaging in recurrent animal cruelty. The younger the age of respondent for first witnessing animal cruelty, the sooner his initiation to hurting and killing animals occurred. In addition, those who reported witnessing a parent commit acts of animal abuse reported that they committed animal abuse themselves at an older age, while those who witnessed a brother/sister commit animal abuse reported engaging in it at an earlier age. Therefore, physical abuse and witnessing primary socializers engage in animal abuse seem to be important in understanding the respondents' age of onset and repeated childhood animal cruelty.

Childhood animal cruelty, bestiality, and the link to adult interpersonal violence

Animal cruelty has been a concern of the legal and psychiatric communities for many years. Beginning in the early 1800s, state legislatures in the United States established laws to protect the basic safety and security of animals in their jurisdictions. Legislatures have differed in opinion on the animals to receive protection under the law and have instituted differing penalties for infractions of anti-cruelty measures. In the 1960s, the psychiatric community took notice of childhood animal cruelty as a potential risk factor for violent acts against humans. Since that time there has been increasing evidence that children who engage in animal cruelty may be at increased risk of interpersonal offenses in adulthood. Less is known about children and adults who engage in bestiality and the potential risk that these individuals may pose for interpersonal sexual or nonsexual violent acts. We review the legal status of animal cruelty in the United States, summarize the history of psychiatric interest in and research of animal cruelty, describe current knowledge regarding the link between animal cruelty and violence, and propose a novel classification scheme for individuals who engage in bestiality to assist forensic psychiatric examiners in determining the risk that such behavior poses for future interpersonal offending.

Family context and externalizing correlates of childhood animal cruelty in adjudicated delinquents.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether childhood animal cruelty is primarily a feature of family context or of externalizing behavior. Twenty measures of family context and proactive (fearlessness) and reactive (disinhibition) externalizing behavior were correlated with the retrospective accounts of childhood animal cruelty provided by 1,354 adjudicated delinquents. A cross-sectional analysis revealed that all 20 family context, proactive externalizing, and reactive externalizing variables correlated significantly with animal cruelty. Prospective analyses showed that when the animal cruelty variable was included in a regression equation with the 10 family context variables (parental arguing and fighting, parental drug use, parental hostility, and parental knowledge and monitoring of offspring behavior) or in a regression equation with the five reactive externalizing variables (interpersonal hostility, secondary psychopathy, weak impulse control, weak suppression of aggression, and short time horizon), it continued to predict future violent and income (property + drug) offending. The animal cruelty variable no longer predicted offending, however, when included in a regression equation with the five proactive externalizing variables (early onset behavioral problems, primary psychopathy, moral disengagement, positive outcome expectancies for crime, and lack of consideration for others). These findings suggest that while animal cruelty correlates with a wide range of family context and externalizing variables, it may serve as a marker of violent and nonviolent offending by virtue of its position on the proactive subdimension of the externalizing spectrum.

Testing the direct, indirect, and moderated effects of childhood animal cruelty on future aggressive and non‐aggressive offending

The relationship between childhood cruelty toward animals and subsequent aggressive offending was explored in 1,336 (1,154 male, 182 female) participants from the 11-wave Pathways to Desistance study (Mulvey, 2013). Aggressive and income offending at Waves 1 through 10 were regressed onto a dichotomous measure of prior involvement in animal cruelty and four control variables (age, race, sex, early onset behavior problems) assessed at Wave 0 (baseline). Results indicated that childhood animal cruelty was equally predictive of aggressive and non-aggressive (income) offending, a finding inconsistent with the hypothesis that cruelty toward animals desensitizes a person to future interpersonal aggression or in some way prepares the individual for interpersonal violence toward humans. Whereas a significant sex by animal cruelty interaction was predicted, there was no evidence that sex or any of the other demographic variables included in this study (age, race) consistently moderated the animal cruelty-subsequent offending relationship. On the other hand, two cognitive-personality measures (interpersonal hostility, callousness/unemotionality) were found to successfully mediate the animal cruelty-subsequent offending relationship. Outcomes from this study imply that a causal nexus-partially or fully mediated by hostility, callousness/unemotionality, and other cognitive-personality variables-may exist between childhood animal cruelty and subsequent offending, although the effect is not specific to violence.

Childhood cruelty to animals in China: the relationship with psychological adjustment and family functioning

The current study broadened the general scope of research conducted on childhood cruelty to animals by examining the association between psychological adjustment, family functioning and animal cruelty in an Eastern context, China. The mothers and fathers of 729 children attending primary school in Chengdu, China participated in this study. Each parent completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, the Chinese Family Assessment Instrument, and the Children's Attitudes and Behaviours towards Animals questionnaire. Findings from an actor partner interdependence model demonstrated that parents' ratings of family functioning and of their child's externalizing coping style predicted only modest amounts of variance in animal cruelty. In particular, parents' ratings of their child's externalizing coping style most consistently predicted animal cruelty. Family functioning, fathers' ratings in particular, played a minor role, more so for boys compared with girls. This study provided the first insight into childhood animal cruelty in China, and suggests that further research may enhance our understanding of these phenomena.

Examining the Relationship Between Childhood Animal Cruelty Motives and Recurrent Adult Violent Crimes Toward Humans

Few researchers have studied the predictive ability of childhood animal cruelty motives as they are associated with later recurrent violence toward humans. Based on a sample of 180 inmates at one medium- and one maximum-security prison in a Southern state, the present study examines the relationship among several retrospectively identified motives (fun, out of anger, hate for the animal, and imitation) for childhood animal cruelty and the later commission of violent crimes (murder, rape, assault, and robbery) against humans. Almost two thirds of the inmates reported engaging in childhood animal cruelty for fun, whereas almost one fourth reported being motivated either out of anger or imitation. Only one fifth of the respondents reported they had committed acts of animal cruelty because they hated the animal. Regression analyses revealed that recurrent animal cruelty was the only statistically significant variable in the model. Respondents who had committed recurrent childhood animal cruelty were more likely to have had committed recurrent adult violence toward humans. None of the motives for committing childhood animal cruelty had any effect on later violence against humans.

Childhood Cruelty to Animals: Psychiatric and Demographic Correlates

This retrospective study compared frequencies of aggressive behaviors and abuse histories noted during a psychiatric intake assessment for children where animal cruelty was endorsed and a control sample of youth for whom animal cruelty was not endorsed to determine if rates of concerning behaviors differed significantly. Relative to the control group, the cruelty group was significantly more likely to have had problems with peers, perpetrated bullying, experienced sexual abuse, and have a history of sexually acting out. Recommendations for childhood animal cruelty screening in mental health settings are discussed.