Animal abuse in minors: a child’s thing?

A report on animal cruelty cases.

When a case of animal cruelty appears in the media, most people question why someone would do such a thing, and it is even more shocking when the perpetrator is a minor. minor. So, it is normal that many questions arise on the subject: Why do some children mistreat animals? What goes through their minds? Is it a game for them? Is it "kid's stuff"?

In the last 40 years many researchers from different parts of the world have tried to answer these questions, partly due to the increased pro-animal awareness in our society. To tell the truth, many of them remain unequivocally unanswered, as at the moment research is insufficient to understand the dimension of the problem, a fact that could be attributed, among other aspects, to the fact that the attacks occur specifically towards a species other than our own, which can be called speciesism.

What do we mean by cruelty to animals?

But... what exactly can be qualified as "cruelty to animals"? The most widely accepted definition in the scientific literature is that of one of the most renowned researchers in this area, Frank R. Ascione: "socially unacceptable behavior that intentionally causes unnecessary suffering, Pain or distress and/or death to the animal.".

Therefore, even if they cause unnecessary suffering to animals, it does not include more socially accepted behaviors such as intensive livestock farming that ends in slaughterhouses, legal hunting, animal breeding for their fur, scientific experimentation with animals, animal shows (bullfights, circuses, zoos...). However, the definition of cruelty to animals should also include, according to several authors, acts of mistreatment due to negligence when there is an intention to cause harm.

Why do some children mistreat animals?

After having interviewed several adolescent aggressors, researchers Ascione, Thompson and Black in 1997 proposed different answers to this question based on the underlying motivations that youngsters may have for attacking domestic or wild animals. domestic or wild animals.

According to these authors, children/adolescents who mistreat animals do it basically for these reasons:

• To satisfy their curiosity/exploration (e.g., the animal is harmed or killed in the process of being examined).

• Peer group pressure (e.g., as a ritualistic initiation process to get into a certain youth group).

• Mood elevation (e.g., to combat (e.g., to combat boredom and/or depression).

• Sexual gratification (known in English as "bestiality").

• Forced abuse (e.g., the minor is forced to abuse the animal by another more powerful person, very frequent in cases of Domestic Violence, where the minor may become the aggressor of the animal to prevent a more painful/slower death of the animal by the powerful person).

• Animal phobia (the minor kills or injures the animal as a preemptive strike).

• Post-traumatic play (the child recreates scenes of highly charged violence as an emotional release).

• Training for interpersonal violence with humans (e.g., the child practices his or her techniques on animals before daring to harm people).

• Vehicle for emotional abuse (e.g., harming a family member's pet to scare him/her).

Other explanations

Other authors add some motivations from interviews with Kansas and Connecticut inmates who had assaulted animals in their adolescence/youth. All examples are real:

• To control the animal (intended to eliminate behaviors of the animal that are not pleasing, e.g., kicking a dog in the testicles to stop it from barking).

• To take revenge on the animal (e.g., taking revenge on a cat that has scratched the sofa by burning it alive).

• To satisfy a prejudice against a particular species or breed. (very common hatred of cats).

• To express one's own human aggression through the animal. (e.g., inflicting harm on the animal to prepare the dog for fights with other animals.

• For fun and to shock others (e.g., tying two cats by the tail and burning them to see how desperately they run).

• Unspecified sadism (desires to hurt, torture and/or kill an animal without having perceived any kind of provocation and without any a priori hostile feeling against the animal; killing is done for pleasure, to enjoy the process of death). These children would have the worst prognosis..

Are they "children's things"?

At the psychological level, animal abuse is indicating us that there are cognitive dysfunctionalities (erroneous ways of interpreting power and control) and/or environmental and/or environmental dysfunctions in the child. Several authors throughout history have warned of this phenomenon as an indicator of psychological maladjustment (for example, Pinel in 1809, or Margaret Mead in 1964).

In fact, in 1987, the American Psychiatric Association included animal cruelty as one of the 15 symptoms of the well-known Child Behavior Disorder. In addition, children who commit acts of cruelty to animals are more likely to have more severe behavioral problems than those with other symptoms.

Animal abuse and other forms of conflict

It is also important to note that animal cruelty is related to domestic violence domestic violence, child sexual abuse and bullying, among others.

Children exposed to domestic violence and/or who are abused (either physically, sexually or psychologically) tend to be more violent towards animals than children who have not experienced such unfavorable situations. These children may be expressing the pain involved in their own victimization process through the abuse of more vulnerable victims: animals.

In other words: animal cruelty in childhood may be a warning sign that the family/school environment is being violent or abusive to the child, so it is advisable to pay close attention to the child's behavior.Therefore, it is advisable to pay special attention to the child as soon as a situation of animal abuse takes place.

Therefore, these acts should not be considered as a simple passing child's game nor should they be downplayed; behind these episodes of cruelty many traumatic situations in which the child has been the victim can be discovered.

How can animal abuse be prevented?

Several investigations have shown that educating children by transmitting positive values towards all living beings on the planet is a very important element in the prevention of cruel acts against animals and their treatment, facilitating the development of empathy even towards humans.

These educational programs help to develop a sense of responsibility, concern for others, as well as collaborate in the development of self-esteem, socialization and cooperation.

The implications of this on a global scale are clear: if cruelty to animals is taken into account as a more significant form of aggression and/or display of antisocial behavior, progress would be made in the understanding and prevention of violence in children, adolescents and adults.

Enlaces de interés:"Tres menores se fugan del centro de Abegondo y matan 40 conejos" (La Voz de Galicia) "Un grupo de menores atemoriza a los vecinos de Marinaleda tras matar a casi 30 animales" (El Correo de Andalucía) "PACMA denuncia a los chicos que mataron a un gatito a patadas en Cuenca" (Huffington Post)Referencias bibliográficas:

• Arluke, A., Levin, J., Luke, C. & Ascione, F. (1999). The relationship of animal abuse to violence and other forms of antisocial behavior. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 14(9), 963-975. doi: 10.1177/088626099014009004

• Ascione, F. R. (1993). Children who are cruel to animals: A review of research and implications for developmental psychopathology. Anthrozoös, 6(4), 226-247. doi: 10.2752/0892793393787002105

• Ascione, F. R., Thompson, T. M. & Black, T. (1997). Childhood cruelty to animals: Assessing cruelty dimensions and motivations. Anthrozoös, 10(4), 170-177. doi: 10.2752/0892793977787001076

• Ascione, F. R. (2001). Animal Abuse and Youth Violence, US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Washington: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

• Baldry, A. C. (2005). Animal abuse among preadolescents directly and indirectly victimized at shcool and at home. Criminal Behavior and Mental Health, 15(2), 97-110. doi: 10.1002/cbm.42

• Duncan, A., Thomas, J. C., & Miller, C. (2005). Significance of family risk factors in development of childhood animal cruelty in adolescent boys with conduct problems. Journal of Family Violence, 20(4), 235-239. doi: 10.1007/s10896-005-5987-9

• Hensley, C. & Tallichet, S. E. (2005). Animal cruelty motivations: assessing demographic and situational influences. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20(11), 1429-1443. doi: 10.1177/0886260505278714

• Luk, E. S., Staiger, P. K., Wong, L., & Mathai, J. (1999). Children who are cruel to animals: A revisit. Australia and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 33, 29-36. doi: 10.1046/j.1440-1614.1999.00528.x