Childhood cruelty to animals and later aggression against people: a review.

The existing literature on the relationship between childhood cruelty to animals and later violence against people appears to be inconsistent. The authors review the controlled studies that did not support this relationship and those that did and identify several methodological factors that may have contributed to the contradictory findings. Studies using direct interviews to examine subjects with multiple acts of violence point to an association between a pattern of childhood animal cruelty and later serious, recurrent aggression against people. Identification of such a relationship could improve understanding of impulsive violence and facilitate early intervention and prevention.

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.

Trends in American mental health.

Using the data collected by Hollingshead and Redlich in 1950 and their own recent data, the authors describe trends in the mental health field over a 25-year period. They found a marked increase in admissions and readmissions to inpatient facilities and a significant decrease in the average length of stay; a considerable increase in outpatient treatment services; a shift in major diagnostic categories from schizophrenia to alcoholism; an unequal allocation of services to young versus elderly patients; discharge of many chronic patients to nursing homes; the increased involvement of psychiatrists in administrative work and decreased time spent in direct patient care; and an increase in third-party insurance as a source of patient fees.