Violence against animals and people: is aggression against living creatures generalized?

An association between childhood cruelty to animals and dangerous aggression against people at a later age could have important implications regarding early detection and treatment, preventive psychiatry, and a social ethic that encourages positive attitudes toward living creatures in general. Research reports in the literature are inconsistent and inconclusive regarding a possible relationship between animal cruelty and aggression against people. Although a single act is not predictive of another act, a pattern of substantial animal abuse may conceivably be associated with a pattern of recurrent violence directed against people. In the present study, extensive interview schedules were administered to aggressive criminals, nonaggressive criminals, and noncriminals. The nature of abuse was described for each subject who gave a history of substantial abuse. A clear relationship was found between early substantial abuse and recurrent violence against people. Possible explanations for conflicting results in the literature are discussed.