How does growing up as an adolescent in a violent environment makes you become cruel to animals?
Background/Context
Even the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) believed that cruelty to animals is a precursor to eventual interpersonal violence. As such, violent acts towards animals are acknowledged as indicators of a dangerous psychopathology which is not limited to animals alone, suggesting that cruelty to animals deserves the attention of various disciplines including the police force, courts and lawmakers. Kellert and Felthouse (1985) animal cruelty must be viewed as a potential indicator of future aggressive criminality. Particular focus must b given on prevalence of cruelty to animals as inflicted by the adolescents. Bierne (2003) notes that animal abuse is a signifier of violence between humans as animals represent as objects that signify the presence of a psychologistic defect of human character particularly for children who can be considered as assaultive. Ascione (1993) also asserted that the relationship between the abuse of animals in childhood and adolescence, on the one hand, and the concurrent and/or consequent development of antisocial, aggressive, or criminal tendencies among adults on the other is common that it cannot be ignored.
Established patterns of behavior in the adolescents are developed in their childhood which is greatly influenced by the immediate environment. Boat (1995) investigated that violence towards animals tends to exist when there is violence particularly toward children. The vortex of violence almost always points to the fact that cruelty to animals is a sign that the child or the adolescent has been exposed to violence or abuse. Faver and Strand (2003) recognize that more often than not animal abuse is linked to domestic violence. Assaultive children often live in a family situation where abuse is apparent although the frequency is not known (as cited in Bierne, 2003). Thereby, there is a developmental relationship between the abuse of animals, extent of violence exposure and eventual maturation into violent adults. Animal cruelty is also now associated with multiple personality and dissociative disorders. Nevertheless, what makes analysis difficult is the fact that the question of why some children assault animals has not yet been subjected to sociological analysis.
In what ways and to what extent does growing in a violent environment makes an adolescent cruel to animals is not known. This is particularly true in the criminological discourse wherein animal cruelty brought by precedent exposure of violence receives little attention. Beirne (2003) acknowledge this fact by stating that scholarly studies of animal abuse remain virtually non-existent and that the topic is completely ignored in criminology textbooks. Miller and Knutson (1997) found out that prisoners have been exposed to animal cruelty as children and it is a prevalent behavior in sexual murderers as well (Ressler et al, 1986). As such, it is worth stressing that animal abuse enters criminological discourse here as a signifier of violence between humans, as according to Bierne (2003). Precisely because animals remain inadequately theorized in criminology, there is a necessity to determine how animal cruelty and violent environments could lead to interhuman violence.
Problem Statement
The ways and the extent by which growing up in the violent environment cultivates adolescent animal cruelty therefore future criminality is not known thus it would be necessary to establish the relationship between the exposure to violence and animal cruelty, leading to causing changes in practices of criminal justice practitioners.
Purpose Statement
The purpose of studying how violent environments makes adolescent become cruel to animals is to establish the causality as context and phenomenon in order to develop an integrated and comprehensive framework to properly address the prevalence of both animal cruelty and violence.
Research Question
The key question will be – How growing up in a violent environment influence adolescents to commit animal cruelty? In particular, other focal questions will be addressed.
- What specific behaviors could likely to develop growing in a violent environment leading to animal cruelty?
- How do adolescents perceived their acts of committing cruelty to animals?
- How the police force and local court regard animal cruelty and what are they doing in return?
Rational, Relevance, and Significance
This proposed study is important to obtain a better understanding of the relationship between experiences in violent environment and adolescent animal cruelty. As such, the study will be a significant endeavor in promoting awareness violence and animal cruelty as an indicator of future aggressive behaviors of the adolescents. Of concern is the fact that this can lead to criminality. This study will be helpful to sociologists, lawmakers and courts to underscore the violent pathology that manifests in animal cruelty as this will present significant findings on the impact of growing expose to violence, threats and abuse. Moreover, this study will be an important contribution in behavioural manifestations into becoming violent adults. This subject is of particular importance to me as upon graduation in my Criminal Justice course I anticipate assuming a role within the setting. Thus, it will be my job to maximize the literature affecting criminal practice.
Theoretical/Conceptual Framework
For this study, I proposed to adapt the Duluth Wheel Model of Power and Control with behaviors listed in eight major divisions. The original model was intended for a domestic setting where batterers and victims exist. But for the purpose of the research, the eight divisions will still be used only that the division of ‘Using Male Privilege’ will be changed as ‘Using Dominance’. It is believed that violence is a learned behavior and that the term environment encompasses both domestic and external setting which is the street and communities. The behaviours acquired of each case participant will be listed in the wheel in the analysis phase to determine which of these could likely to result in animal cruelty. To illustrate:
Research Design
This study will employ a case study research, an empirical inquiry in investigating contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context specifically used when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident (Yin, 2003). Creswell (2003) made mention that a case study research seeks to derive detailed accounts of a single or more cases that provide on the topic for investigation. The context will be exposure to a violent environment while the phenomenon is animal cruelty hence providing an in-depth investigation on the interplay between the two through a case study. The importance of utilizing the case study approach is on providing the researcher the advantage the acquisition of in-depth information on how a violent environment could serve as a breeding ground for eventual animal cruelty.
The case study will be explanatory to establish causality between the context and the phenomenon. Creswell (2003) pointed out that various sources of evidence for case studies which include documents, archive records, interviews, observation and physical artifacts could be used singly or combined. For this study, the combination of interviews, participant observations and history records of research participants will be employed. The researcher will design an open-ended interview schedule and observation log. This will ensure that only quality information will be collected from the participants hence relevant evidences could be obtained. Observation will take place in the actual setting so that actual behaviors and influences could be observed for a period of one month.
References
Ascione, F. R. (1993). Children Who Are Cruel to Animals: A Review of Research and Implications for Developmental Psychopathology. Anthrozoos, 6(4): 226-247.
Bierne, P. (1995). The Use and Abuse of Animals in Criminology: A Brief History and Current Review. Social Justice, 22(1): 5.
Boat, B. W. (1995). The relationship between violence to children and violence to animals: An ignored link? Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 10: 229-235.
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Faver, C. A. & Strand, E. B. (2003). Domestic Violence and Animal Cruelty: Untangling the Web of Abuse. Journal of Social Work Education, 39(2): 237.
Kellert, S. R. & Felthouse, A. R. (1985). Childhood cruelty toward animals among criminals and noncriminals. Human Relations, 38: 1113-1129.
Miller, K. S., & Knutson, J. F. (1997). Reports of severe physical punishment and exposure to animal cruelty by inmates convicted of felonies and by university students. Child Abuse and Neglect, 21: 59-82.
Ressler, R. K., Burgess, A. W., Hartman, C. R., & Douglas, J. E. (1986). Murderers who rape and mutilate. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1: 273-287.
Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research: Design and method (3rd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
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