The purpose of this study is to examine the link between violence in homes, focusing on corporal punishment of children as a means of discipline, and other behaviours (including sexual abuse, illegal drug use, domestic violence, hitting of pets) which may be a cause for concern. This paper reports the results of a survey of 933 people and 12 case studies. Violence, physical or domestic, occurred in 62% of survey participants' homes. The survey indicates that in respondents' homes many children were physically hurt as a means of discipline. Children were spanked in 77% of homes with children, pets were hit in 25% of homes with pets, and domestic violence was found in 23% of homes. These findings suggest that those who use violence in their homes may not understand the wider and longer-term consequences of their actions for both victims and society. Case study participants seem to view only severe physical violence as abuse. They also appear reluctant to report abuse to the authorities which can hamper the efforts to curb violence in homes. The following anecdote exemplifies this reaction: A lady was looking at a car, she had a small girl with her (3 or 4 years old), "come here" she said, the little girl was gazing at her reflection in the shinny [sic] car wheels, "come here" said the woman again, the child was in her own world looking in marvel at the shiny silver wheels, the big lady took two steps over to the child, and wham, "come here" she hollered after hitting the kid…the child looked up, and did not cry, she said nothing and biting her lip she followed the lady…Nobody looked twice; nobody cared… (Aranha, 2009, para. 10).

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This paper reports on the first known study on childhood harm towards animals in The Bahamas. Using the Children and Animals Inventory (CAI), an Internet survey involving 1,558 respondents allowed childhood harm towards animals, to be investigated in the context of other violent behaviours in the child's home. The homes of children who did not harm animals were less violent than the homes of children who harmed animals. Consistent with other studies, males were more likely to harm animals than females; further, males were more likely than females to harm sentient animals. While the use of violence to train children was not associated with a higher CAI score, domestic violence and the presence of a gun in the home were associated with a higher CAI score. The implications of these findings as they relate to the treatment of living creatures are discussed.

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