Bestiality: An introduction for legal and mental health professionals

Abstract

Bestiality, or human-animal intercourse, has been a concern of the legal and mental health communities for many years.Ancient legal codes delineated punishments for those who engaged in the behavior, denoting a moral and general societal concern surrounding bestiality dating to ancient times. Despite this longstanding interest in and legal efforts to punish humans for having sex with animals, there has been little research on the behavior. Current available research has largely been siloed based on the populations studied, making it difficult to render any firm conclusions about bestiality's prevalence, frequency, and the risk posed by those who have sex with animals. It is important for clinicians to know the legal status of the behavior in their jurisdictions, to understand possible medical and psychiatric complications and comorbidities, and to know how to evaluate and treat individuals who engage in bestiality or have the related diagnosis of zoophilic disorder. This article provides an overview of the terminology and research pertaining to bestiality, summarizes legal and ethical considerations, and describes clinically relevant information for the evaluation and management of individuals engaged in sex with animals.

Animal Abuse as an Indicator of Domestic Violence: One Health, One Welfare Approach

“…During the act, the perpetrator has a sense of domination over the animal [150]. We need to clarify that bestiality differs from zoophilia since it does not contemplate the motivations that may lead a person to seek sexual contact with an animal [128,151]. A more appropriate definition of bestiality, therefore, could be animal sexual abuse [152].…”

Animal maltreatment law: Evolving efforts to protect animals and their forensic mental health implications

“…As described earlier, state statutes are increasingly mandating the psychological evaluation and treatment of animal maltreatment offenders, despite a lack of evidence regarding what constitutes the best practices in this field. This problem is particularly true in cases of bestiality, as the data regarding the behavior are slim and siloed by populations studied, reducing their generalizability to the public and potential or known offenders (Holoyda & Newman, ; Holoyda, Sorrentino, Friedman, & Allgire, ). For forensic mental health professionals to be able to conduct sound evaluations and provide evidence‐based recommendations, more research is needed.…”

“…Since that time, there have been no peer‐reviewed articles published on the effectiveness of AniCare or any psychological intervention at reducing an individual's risk of future animal cruelty or reoffense. For individuals engaged in bestiality or those who have the related diagnosis of zoophilic disorder, there is a similar dearth of research to guide treatment options (Holoyda et al, ). Medication treatments for other paraphilic disorders, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and antiandrogen medications, may presumably be of some utility in bestiality offenders, although there are no published trials to substantiate this hypothesis.…”

Autism spectrum disorder, bestiality and zoophilia: a systematic PRISMA review

“…Studies investigating bestiality are limited to specific subgroups such as forensic samples or self-identified zoophiles. It is not fully understood what the prevalence of bestiality is in the general population (Holoyda et al , 2018). As discussed by Beetz (2004), Miletski (2002) and Beetz (2002) highlighted the distinction between zoophilia and bestiality.…”

“…It also fails to explain why someone engage in sexual intercourse with an animal. As explained by Holoyda and Newman (2016), there are a number of different motivations for engaging in sexual intercourse with animals (Holoyda, Sorrentino, Friedman, & Allgire, 2018). Studies investigating bestiality are limited to specific subgroups such as forensic samples or self-identified zoophiles.…”