Animal cruelty as an indicator of family trauma: Using adverse childhood experiences to look beyond child abuse and domestic violence
Animal cruelty as an indicator of family trauma: Using adverse childhood experiences to look beyond child abuse and domestic violence
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DOI：
10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.11.011
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发表时间：
2018-02-01
影响因子：
4.8
通讯作者：
Hardt, Nancy
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Bright, Melissa A.;Huq, Mona Sayedul;Hardt, Nancy
众所周知，虐待动物的青少年在生活中对其他人实施暴力的风险增加，包括同龄人，亲人和年长的家庭成员。这些年轻人经常遭受家庭暴力，包括暴力成年人对他们心爱的宠物实施的动物虐待。目前的研究利用了81，000名青少年罪犯的数据集，他们的不良童年经历是已知的，其中包括466名自我报告参与虐待动物的青少年。与更大的青少年罪犯群体相比，承认参与虐待动物的儿童在第一次被捕时更年轻，更有可能是男性，更有可能是白色。当看到他们的不良童年经历（ACE）的报告，他们比其他少年犯更有可能有一系列的不良经历，家庭暴力和有四个或更多的ACE。虽然虐待动物的年轻人已经很麻烦了，但他们在很小的时候就向执法部门提出的事实提供了早期干预的机会。执法领域以外的服务提供者，例如教师、医生、兽医和动物控制官员，也许能够识别这些弱势青少年，并在对其他人施加暴力之前将他们转介到所需的服务。
Youth who engage in animal cruelty are known to be at increased risk of perpetrating violence on other people in their lives including peers, loved ones, and elder family members. These youths have often been exposed to family violence, including animal cruelty perpetrated on their beloved pets by violent adults. The current study utilizes a data set of 81,000 juvenile offenders whose adverse childhood experiences are known and includes 466 youth who self-report engaging in animal cruelty. Compared to the larger group of juvenile offenders, the children admitting to engaging in animal cruelty are younger at time of first arrest, more likely to be male, and more likely to be White. When looking at their reports of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), they are more likely than other juvenile offenders to have an array of adverse experiences beyond family violence and to have four or more ACEs. Although the youth who are cruel to animals are already troubled, the fact that they present to law enforcement at early ages provides early opportunities for intervention. Service providers outside the law enforcement field, such as teachers, physicians, veterinarians and animal control officers may be able to identify these vulnerable youth, and refer them to needed services before violence is visited on other humans.