An Investigation into the Association between the Witnessing of Animal Abuse and Adolescents' Behavior toward Animals

2006 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Thompson ◽  
Eleonora Gullone
Keyword(s):  
Animal Cruelty ◽  
Peer Mentors ◽  
Frequency Data ◽  
Animal Abuse ◽  
Sibling Abuse ◽  
Humane Education ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
History Of

AbstractResearch (Baldry, 2003; Flynn, 1999, 2000a; Henry, 2004) has linked witnessing abuse to nonhuman animals with the committal of such acts. This study reports frequency data based on adolescents' self-reported witnessing of animal abuse and involvement in animal-directed behaviors. The study investigates associations between witnessing abuse and engaging in both positive and negative animal-directed behaviors. 281 adolescents, 12-18 years of age, completed measures of animal cruelty and the humane treatment of animals. As predicted, the study found a history of witnessing animal abuse associated with significantly higher levels of animal cruelty. The study reported significantly higher levels of cruelty for those who had witnessed a friend, relative, parent, or sibling abuse an animal and significantly lower levels for those who had witnessed a stranger abuse an animal. Participants who "Frequently" witnessed animal abuse reported significantly higher levels of cruelty than those who viewed abuse "A few times". There was no association found between humane treatment of animals and the witnessing of animal abuse. Positive influences, peer mentors and humane education, would help to combat this cycle of abuse.

scholarly journals Culture, Reform Politics, and Future Directions: A Review of China’s Animal Protection Challenge

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Li ◽  
Gareth Davey
Keyword(s):  
Development Strategy ◽  
Animal Cruelty ◽  
Western China ◽  
Animal Abuse ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Animal Protection ◽  
Chinese Thought ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
Reform Politics ◽  
The Subject

Abstract Incidents of animal abuse in China attract worldwide media attention. Is China culturally inclined to animal cruelty, or is the country’s development strategy a better explanation? This article addresses the subject of animal protection in China, a topic that has been ignored for too long by Western China specialists. A review of ancient Chinese thought asks whether China lacks a legacy of compassion for animals. The article then considers how China’s reform politics underlie the animal welfare crisis. Through its discussion of the welfare crisis impacting nonhuman animals in China, this paper sheds light on the enormity of the country’s animal protection challenge. It concludes with an optimistic prediction for the future, despite the obstacles that remain in the way of animal protection policy change.

The Relationship between Animal Cruelty, Delinquency, and Attitudes toward the Treatment of Animals

2004 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 185-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill Henry
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Antisocial Behavior ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Animal Cruelty ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
History Of ◽  
Psychology Course ◽  
Cruelty To Animals ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractPrevious research has identified a relationship between acts of cruelty to animals other than humans and involvement in other forms of antisocial behavior. The current study sought to extend these findings by examining this relationship among a sample of college students using a self-report delinquency methodology. In addition, the current study explored the relationship between a history of observing or engaging in acts of animal cruelty and attitudes of sensitivity/concern regarding the treatment of nonhuman animals. College students (n = 169) enrolled in an Introduction to Psychology course comprised the sample. Results indicated that those participants who observed acts of animal cruelty and those who participated in acts of animal cruelty had higher scores on a self-report delinquency scale than did those who had never observed or participated in acts of animal cruelty. Observation of acts of animal cruelty interacted with sex to predict attitudes toward the treatment of animals. Observation of animal cruelty and par ticipation in animal cruelty affected delinquency scores independently. The current study discusses implications and directions for future research.

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

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (8) ◽  
pp. 2345-2356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caleb E. Trentham ◽  
Christopher Hensley ◽  
Christina Policastro
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Violence ◽  
Animal Cruelty ◽  
Outcome Variable ◽  
Animal Abuse ◽  
Southern State ◽  
Medium Security ◽  
Potential Link ◽  
Violent Acts ◽  
Using Data

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.

Soft Animal Heart

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 24-28
Author(s):  
Lauren A. Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Species Difference ◽  
Full Spectrum ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
Familial Bonds ◽  
History Of

What does it mean to create familial bonds between humans and animals? Do love, mourning, and empathy matter less if they are directed toward nonhuman animals? This narrative-driven essay explores the nuances of loss during a widely precarious year, and the ways families are created and dissolved through mourning, while also addressing the socially fraught history of the “witchy cat lady.” The author, a full-spectrum doula who had previously specialized in stillbirth support, argues that empathy may offer a heightened version of itself when it demands communicating across a species difference.

The Children's Treatment of Animals Questionnaire (CTAQ): A Psychometric Investigation

2003 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Thompson ◽  
Eleonora Gullone
Keyword(s):  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Reliable Measure ◽  
Good Test ◽  
Humane Education ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
Test Retest Reliability ◽  
Psychometric Investigation ◽  
Adequate Internal Consistency ◽  
Item Scale

AbstractRecognizing the importance of increasing the levels of children's humane behavior toward animals other than humans relates to the developing of valid and reliable measures of such behavior. This study reports the psychometric properties of the Children's Treatment of Animals Questionnaire (CTAQ), which assesses children's humane behavior toward nonhuman animals. The findings, based on self-reports by 61 elementary school children (25 boys; 36 girls), showed that the 13-item scale has adequate internal consistency. In addition, comparing two administrations of the scale over a five-week period demonstrated good test-retest reliability. The scale's convergent validity was demonstrated with significant correlations between responses on the CTAQ and two previously validated measures of empathy. The study concluded that the CTAQ is a valid and reliable measure for assessing the degree to which children's behavior toward nonhuman animals is humane. Determining the sensitivity of the measure to change (following humane education) and the predictive validity of the measure (identification of children who are cruel to animals) will require further research.

Animal abuse, biotechnology and species justice

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 363-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Rodríguez Goyes ◽  
Ragnhild Sollund
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Western World ◽  
Green Criminology ◽  
Animal Abuse ◽  
Justice Theory ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
Instrumental View

Generally, in the modern, western world, conceptualizations of the natural environment are associated with what nature can offer us—an anthropocentric perspective whereby humans treat nature and all its biotic components as ‘natural resources’. When nature and the beings within it are regarded purely in utilitarian terms, humans lose sight of the fact that ecosystems and nonhuman animals have intrinsic value. Most biotechnological use of nonhuman animals is informed by an instrumental view of nature. In this article, we endeavour to broaden the field of animal abuse studies by including in it the exploration of biotechnological abuse of animals. We analyse the issue by discussing it in relation to differing philosophical starting points and, in particular, the rights and justice theory developed within green criminology.

‘The Only Monsters here are the Filmmakers’: Animal cruelty and death in Italian Cannibal Films

2016 ◽  
pp. 191-206
Author(s):  
Mark Bernard
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metal ◽  
Animal Cruelty ◽  
Animal Abuse ◽  
Factory Farms

Many contemporary horror filmmakers pride themselves on violating taboos in their films, especially taboos concerning violence. However, there is a line that even many of the most hardened filmmakers refuse to cross: violence against animals. In fact, some horror filmmakers have spoken out against animal abuse. For instance, heavy metal musician-turned-horror filmmaker Rob Zombie… teamed up with the organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in 2007 to record a message for their ‘Thanksgiving Hotline’, a ‘compassionate alternative’ to the Butterball Turkey Talk Line that offers tips on turkey preparation. Zombie is a self-described ‘ethical vegetarian’ and as such his contribution details the cruelty and mistreatment to which turkeys are subjected in Butterball’s factory farms (PETA, 2007). In 2009 another horror filmmaker, Eli Roth, director of the Hostel films (2006–7), appeared in a promotional spot for PETA.

Horse Play in the Canadian West: The Emergence of the Calgary Stampede as Contested Terrain

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 523-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany Gerber ◽  
Kevin Young
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Public Debate ◽  
The Self ◽  
Recent History ◽  
Public Dialogue ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
History Of ◽  
Continued Use ◽  
Contested Terrain

Abstract As one example of how modern Western societies are increasingly obliged to reconcile questions of civility and justice against common, indeed revered, practices that compromise nonhuman animals, this paper examines the recent history of public debate regarding the use of animals for public entertainment in the Canadian West. Using media-based public dialogue regarding the annual Calgary Stampede (and especially chuckwagon racing) as a case study and couching the high-risk use of horses in the sociological language of “sports-related violence,” the paper explores the various arguments for and against the continued use of horses at the self-proclaimed “Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth” despite unambiguous evidence of the harm that regularly, and sometimes graphically, occurs.

Caring about Blood, Flesh, and Pain:Women's Standing in the Animal Protection Movement

2001 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyle Munro
Keyword(s):  
Animal Rights ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
Drunk Driving ◽  
Women's Movements ◽  
Animal Abuse ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Animal Protection ◽  
Mothers Against Drunk Driving ◽  
History Of

AbstractUsing the results of a survey of animal rights activists, advocates, and supporters, the paper reveals much more convergence (80%) than divergence (20%) of attitudes and actions by male and female animal protectionists. Analysis of the divergence suggests that the differences between men and women in the movement are contingent upon such things as early socialization, gendered work and leisure patterns, affinity with companion animals, ambivalence about science, and a history of opposition to nonhuman animal abuse by generations of female activists and animal advocates. Aside from the feminist and women's movements and groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, it is rare to find a social movement in which the standing of women eclipses those of their male colleagues. The paper suggests that animal protection remains a bastion of female activism and advocacy because women care about blood, flesh, and pain and, unlike earlier generations of animal activists, no longer are seen as a liability to the success of the movement.

From Blubber and Baleen to Buddha of the Deep: The Rise of the Metaphysical Whale

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Zelko
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Large Carnivores ◽  
Theme Parks ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Specific Species ◽  
Western Democracies

Abstract Human attitudes to various nonhuman animals have varied considerably across cultures and throughout time. While some of our responses are undoubtedly instinctive and universal—a visceral fear of large carnivores or the feeling of spontaneous warmth for creatures exhibiting high degrees of neoteny—it is clear that our attitude toward specific species is largely shaped by our innate anthropomorphism: that is, when we think about animals, we are also thinking about ourselves. There are few better examples of this than the shifting attitudes toward whales and dolphins throughout the 20th century, particularly among citizens of Western democracies. This article narrates the cultural history of this development and demonstrates how the current enchantment with whales and dolphins is primarily the result of two broad—and related—cultural developments: the modern entertainment complex, particularly cinema, television, and aquatic theme parks; and the 1960s counterculture, with its potent blend of holistic ecology, speculative neuroscience, and mysticism. The result was the creation of what we might think of as the “metaphysical whale,” a creature who has inspired the abolitionist stance toward whaling.

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