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The Social and Emotional Context of Childhood and Adolescent Animal CrueltyIs There a Link to Adult Interpersonal Crimes?Morehead State University, Kentucky
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Christopher-Hensley{at}utc.edu The link between early animal abuse and later violence toward humans may depend on how acts of animal cruelty are experienced by those whose behavior demonstrates this graduation. Unfortunately, the research investigating the social and emotional context for the youthful commission of animal cruelty as it escalates to adult interpersonal violence is relatively nonexistent. Using 112 cases from a larger sample of 261 inmates surveyed at both medium and maximum security prisons in a southern state, the present study examined the effects of age of onset and frequency of animal cruelty, the covertness of animal cruelty, the commission of animal cruelty within a group or in isolation, and empathy for the abused animals. Inmates who had covered up their childhood and adolescent animal cruelty were more likely to have been convicted of repeated acts of interpersonal violence, demonstrating that the role of empathy and individuals present during acts of animal cruelty were less important than concealing those acts.
Key Words: animal cruelty • interpersonal violence • concealing violence
This version was published on October
1, 2009 International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, Vol. 53, No. 5,
596-606 (2009) |
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