Is Animal Cruelty a “Red Flag” for Family Violence?: Investigating Co-Occurring Violence Toward Children, Partners, and Pets

Authors

Sarah DeGrue, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
David K. DiLillo, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

6-2009

Comments

Published in Journal of Interpersonal Violence 24:6 (June 2009), pp. 1036–1056; doi 10.1177/0886260508319362 Copyright © 2009 Sage Publications. Used by permission. http://jiv.sagepub.com

Abstract

Cross-reporting legislation, which permits child and animal welfare investigators to refer families with substantiated child maltreatment or animal cruelty for investigation by parallel agencies, has recently been adopted in several U.S. jurisdictions. The current study sheds light on the underlying assumption of these policies—that animal cruelty and family violence commonly co-occur. Exposure to family violence and animal cruelty is retrospectively assessed using a sample of 860 college students. Results suggest that animal abuse may be a red flag indicative of family violence in the home. Specifically, about 60% of participants who have witnessed or perpetrated animal cruelty as a child also report experiences with child maltreatment or domestic violence. Differential patterns of association were revealed between childhood victimization experiences and the type of animal cruelty exposure reported. This study extends current knowledge of the links between animal- and human-directed violence and provides initial support for the premise of cross-reporting legislation.