Animal cruelty as an indicator of family trauma: Using adverse childhood experiences to look beyond child abuse and domestic violence

Bright, Melissa; Huq, Mona Sayedul; Spencer, Terry; Applebaum, Jennifer W.; Hardt, Nancy S.

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.11.011

Cited by 72 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…poor attachment, poor view of self, experience of violence, and low understanding of animals) the more at-risk the child might be for animal abuse, and possibly the worse and earlier the abuse will start. This 'cumulative' negative effect has been demonstrated for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) by Bright et al (2018), who showed that juvenile offenders who had committed acts of animal cruelty were more likely to have four or more ACEs. This model is also somewhat aligned with conceptualisation of animal abuse, which is suited to models of reactive aggression.…”

Section: Framework For the Psychological Context Of Animal Crueltymentioning

confidence: 97%

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

Wauthier

Williams

2020

J Interpers Violence

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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.

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Section: Framework For the Psychological Context Of Animal Crueltymentioning

confidence: 97%

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

Wauthier

Williams

2020

J Interpers Violence

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“…We know from reviews of research into animal cruelty (e.g. Gullone, 2014aGullone, , 2014b) that there are a range of risk factors for this aberrant behaviour including, but not limited to: a lack of empathy (McPhedran, 2009); particularly low cognitive empathy (Hartman et al, 2016), characteristic of callous-unemotional traits alongside a lack of guilt or remorse, shallow affect and psychopathy (Dadds, Whiting & Hawes, 2006;Walters, 2014); impulsivity (Newberry, 2017a); adverse childhood experiences, particularly child abuse and neglect, sexual abuse and/or domestic abuse (Bright et al, 2018;McDonald et al, 2018); victimisation and bullying (including cyber-bullying); and normative beliefs about aggression (Sanders & Henry, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Hawkins

Williams

2019

Psychology, Crime & Law

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Assessing 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 1,127 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.

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“…Unlike the community togetherness that often emerges in times of community-wide disaster circumstances, the response to COVID-19 across the world has been to mandate physical separation with shelter in place and stay at home orders (Campbell 2020). Resulting consequences have included unemployment, reduced income, limited resources, alcohol abuse, intimate partner violence, and limited social support, which are all factors found in prior research to increase CM risk (Bright et al 2018;Catalá-Miñana et al 2017;Lindo et al 2018;Lowell and Renk 2017;Paxson and Waldfogel 2002;Schenck-Fontaine et al 2017). Additionally, many parents are now expected to work from home, which can increase the risk for inadequate child supervision and unintentional child injury (e.g., while parents are working; Feely et al 2020).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Delivery of an Evidence-Based Child Maltreatment Prevention Program: Understanding the Perspectives of SafeCare® Providers

et al. 2020

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Child maltreatment (CM) is a global public health problem. Evidence-based home visiting programs, such as SafeCare®, reduce CM risk, and enhance parent-child relationships and other protective factors. As the result of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting restrictions, SafeCare Providers transitioned from home to virtual delivery for the SafeCare curriculum. The purpose of this study is to 1) examine active SafeCare Providers' opinions on the feasibility and effectiveness of SafeCare via remote delivery, and 2) better understand workforce concerns for human service professionals within the context of COVID-19 mitigation efforts. Data are from a cross-sectional survey of SafeCare Providers (N = 303) in the United States, Canada, and Australia. The majority of Providers reported they were actively delivering SafeCare virtually and were comfortable with the delivery format. Providers indicated that the majority of SafeCare families are making progress on target skills, and that engagement is high among many families. Some service delivery challenges were reported, ranging from family data plan limitations to difficulty with delivery of specific components of the SafeCare curriculum related to modeling and assessment. The impact of COVID-19 on Providers' daily routines, stress level, and work-life balance has been significant. Remote, virtual delivery of CM prevention programming offers the opportunity to continue serving vulnerable families in the midst of a pandemic. Barriers related to family technology and data access must be addressed to ensure reach and the effective delivery of prevention programming during the pandemic and beyond.

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Animal cruelty as an indicator of family trauma: Using adverse childhood experiences to look beyond child abuse and domestic violence

Cited by 72 publications

References 34 publications

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

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

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

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Delivery of an Evidence-Based Child Maltreatment Prevention Program: Understanding the Perspectives of SafeCare® Providers

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