Recurrent Childhood Animal Cruelty

• Author: Suzanne E. Tallichet,Christopher Hensley,Erik L. Dutkiewicz
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016808325062
• Published date: 01 June 2009
• Date: 01 June 2009
• Subject Matter: Articles

Criminal Justice Review
Volume 34 Number 2
June 2009 248-257
© 2009 Georgia State University
Recurrent Childhood Animal
Research Foundation, Inc.
10.1177/0734016808325062
http://cjr.sagepub.com
Cruelty
hosted at
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Is There a Relationship to Adult Recurrent
Interpersonal Violence?
Christopher Hensley
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Suzanne E. Tallichet
Morehead State University
Erik L. Dutkiewicz
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Recent studies have begun to establish an association between childhood acts of animal cru-
elty and later violence against humans. Even so, research has failed to establish a strong cor-
relation between the two, perhaps because previous studies have failed to examine the
commission of violence against animals and humans in terms of their frequencies. In a repli-
cation of Tallichet and Hensley (2004) and based on survey data from 180 inmates at a
medium- and maximum-security prison in a Southern state, the present study examines the
relationship between the demographic characteristics of race, level of education, the residen-
tial location of an offender’s formative years, and recurrent acts of childhood cruelty and their
impact on later repeated acts of interpersonal violence. Only repeated acts of animal cruelty
during childhood was predictive of later recurrent acts of violence toward humans, showing a
possible relationship between the two.
Keywords:
animal cruelty; interpersonal violence; inmate sample
Introduction
Although there remains no consensus as to the potential significance of a relationship
between childhood acts (under age 18) of animal cruelty and later acts of interpersonal vio-
lence, researchers continue to explore the various aspects of this complex phenomenon.
Attempts to show the possible relationship between animal cruelty and violence toward
humans have produced contradictory results, especially given the numerous methodologies
undertaken to examine various aspects of this phenomenon. Thus, the association proposed
Authors’ Note: Please address correspondence to Christopher Hensley, Department of Criminal Justice, Dept.
3203, 615 McCallie Avenue, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN 37403; e-mail:
Christopher-Hensley@utc.edu.
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Hensley et al. / Recurrent Childhood Animal Cruelty
249
by sparse academic literature between acts of violence against animals and later acts of vio-
lence against humans remains controversial among academicians, animal rights activists,
and policy makers.
As studies continue to present varied conclusions as to the relationship between animal
cruelty and violence toward humans, this study focuses on a sample of violent and nonvi-
olent offenders to determine whether an association between repeated acts of childhood
animal cruelty and later repeated acts of interpersonal violence exists. Using a sample of
180 medium and maximum custody inmates, we examine the relationship between the
demographic characteristics of race, level of education, and the geographic location of an
offender’s formative years and recurrent acts of childhood animal cruelty and their impact
on later violence toward humans. The current study replicates Tallichet and Hensley’s
(2004) research and provides an additional foundation for the possible association between
recurrent childhood animal cruelty and later recurrent interpersonal violence.
Literature Review
In light of Macdonald’s (1961) proposal of a triad of characteristics—enuresis, fire set-
ting, and cruelty to animals—that could potentially indicate a child’s propensity to commit
acts of aggression toward humans later in life, recent researchers have continued to exam-
ine the specific association between childhood animal cruelty and later acts of interpersonal
violence (Arluke, Levin, Luke, & Ascione, 1999; Gleyzer, Felthous, & Holzer, 2002; Merz-
Perez & Heide, 2004; Merz-Perez, Heide, & Silverman, 2001; Tallichet & Hensley, 2004;
Verlinden, 2000; Wright & Hensley, 2003). Through various methodologies and myriad
sample participants, these researchers have sought to uncover a relationship between child-
hood cruelty to animals and later acts of interpersonal violence.
Unfortunately, the results of these studies were inconsistent in their attempt to show the
relationship between childhood animal cruelty and violence perpetrated against humans
later in life (see Tallichet and Hensley, 2004, for an analysis of research prior to 1999).
Although recent research has revealed either no association at all or no apparent time order
between acts of animal cruelty and interpersonal violence (Arluke et al., 1999), other stud-
ies have supported an association, including the time order (Gleyzer et al., 2002; Merz-
Perez et al., 2001; Merz-Perez & Heide, 2004; Tallichet & Hensley, 2004; Verlinden, 2000;
Wright & Hensley, 2003).
In 1999, Arluke et al. examined criminal records of 153 animal abusers and 153 control
participants (Arluke et al., 1999). Not only did they find that the animal abusers were more
likely than the control participants to be interpersonally violent but also that they were more
likely to commit property, drug, and public disorder offenses. Furthermore, the data revealed
that although animal abuse was associated with a variety of antisocial behaviors, including
violent acts toward humans, these acts were no more likely to precede antisocial behavior
than to follow it. This casts doubt on the assertion that individuals who engage in animal cru-
elty eventually “graduate” to committing acts of interpersonal violence. Despite their find-
ings, the study had significant limitations, especially as pertaining to the time order
relationship between childhood cruelty and later acts of violence. First, although Arluke
et al. (1999) analyzed official criminal records to determine the relationship between cruelty

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Criminal Justice Review
toward animals and violence toward humans, they were unable to obtain criminal records for
participants below the age of 17, which may have contributed to the finding that there was
no significant time order relationship between childhood cruelty and later interpersonal vio-
lence. Additionally, and as opposed to this article, Arluke et al. analyzed data only in cases
of single acts of animal cruelty rather than those involving recurrent acts.
As social concerns continued to fuel the search for predictive indicators of deviant behav-
ior, recent studies have focused their examinations on the graduation hypothesis and suggest
that individuals who commit childhood acts of animal cruelty are more likely to engage in
interpersonal violence as adults (Merz-Perez et al., 2001; Merz-Perez & Heide, 2004;
Tallichet & Hensley, 2004; Verlinden, 2000; Wright & Hensley, 2003). Beginning in 2000,
Verlinden examined risk factors, including acts of animal cruelty, of 11 school shooters in
the United States....