Double Edged Sword: VICIOUS DOGS/VIOLENT CHILDREN!
(By Dr C.W. Meisterfeld – Courtesy of Louise Thompson)
Although the link between violence and animal has been recognised, researched, studied and documented, there remains a gap in understanding why our dogs and children are becoming violent. Animal shelters are filled, as are juvenile penal systems, with rejected souls that are helpless victims of the misconceptions about establishing dominance and obedience. As the statistics for rape and murder spiral upward each year, so do the incidents of vicious attacks by dogs.
Dogs provide an ideal prototype for the study of behaviour in humans. Not only due to their brains being similar, but also because they, like humans, are genetically social animals. Equally important, they are unique in their willingness to seek a bond of servitude to humans as strongly as with members of their knows species. Dogs are the only animal that actively seeks and needs this bond with mankind.
Puppies and children must be guided and taught with respect, the proper acceptable behaviour, in order to become trustworthy, stable members of society. A study in 1963 by Bandura, Ross and Ross, shows that children do, in fact imitate aggression they observe.
Children who experience aggression through physical punishment become aggressive, because they are imitating the behaviour of their parents. Parents who use forceful dominant training techniques with the family dog, are teaching their children THAT PHYSICAL VIOLENCE AND INTIMIDATION ARE OK! Such techniques have been widely taught over the past twenty years, when the “wolf pack” theory was introduced. This theory, based on wild wolves and dominance, is dangerous, harmful, and is part of the modern cycle of violence.
The object in dominant training, is to make the dog submit to a stronger force if the dog fights back. The innocent dog owner is informed (by the so called “experts”) that this behaviour shows the dog is trying to be the boss and is “dominant”!. If the dog resists or objects, the force techniques are increased. If the dog still resists - the force techniques are increased to higher and higher inducing levels. The bottom line is that you either break the dog’s spirit into submission or you break open his head or have him destroyed because of his survival, want-to-live instinct.
How tragically sad! Dominant training breaks the spiritual link of mutual respect between man and man’s best friend.
A child, who has been physically punished or has observed physical violent behaviour, will in turn use physical acts of dominance/aggression to other beings more vulnerable than himself.
Likewise, a dog that has been trained by forceful and abusive techniques will in turn become dominant to other living beings, animals, human beings and especially children!
Children who abuse animals often go on to abuse adult human beings late in life. Most criminals who have been violent towards people, share a common history of excessive and repetitive cruelty towards animals.
How children are raised shapes their values and behaviours. They learn from adult role models and the society that they live in. A home of violence, abuse, or neglect produces children who may well pass on these behaviours to the next generation, and so on.
Animals especially pets, get caught up in this cycle of family violence. In most cases the animal is the last victim in a chain of abuse that filters down from the strongest family member to the weakest. In order to understand an individual act of violence, the entire family and life history of all participants must be considered.
Evidence is mounting that violent acts are not separate and distinct events, but are part of a cycle. These findings should alert parents, social leaders, prosecutors, and judges to the occurrence of animal cruelty as a potential indication of disturbed family relationships and future antisocial activity and aggressive behaviour towards humans.
Recognising the link between animal cruelty and other violent acts may be our first line of defence in breaking down the cycle of violence in our communities.
Researchers Alan Felthouse and Stephen Kellet found that a child who learns aggression against animals, is more likely to rape, abuse and kill other humans as an adult. This it is reported that some of the worlds most violent criminals exhibited excessive cruelty towards animals.
Experts believe that children who are unusually cruel to animals, may continue the abuse that they learned from their parents into adulthood, thus creating a cycle of violence.
Dogs provide an ideal prototype for the study of behaviour in humans. Not only due to their brains being similar, but also because they, like humans, are genetically social animals. Equally important, they are unique in their willingness to seek a bond of servitude to humans as strongly as with members of their knows species. Dogs are the only animal that actively seeks and needs this bond with mankind.
Puppies and children must be guided and taught with respect, the proper acceptable behaviour, in order to become trustworthy, stable members of society. A study in 1963 by Bandura, Ross and Ross, shows that children do, in fact imitate aggression they observe.
Children who experience aggression through physical punishment become aggressive, because they are imitating the behaviour of their parents. Parents who use forceful dominant training techniques with the family dog, are teaching their children THAT PHYSICAL VIOLENCE AND INTIMIDATION ARE OK! Such techniques have been widely taught over the past twenty years, when the “wolf pack” theory was introduced. This theory, based on wild wolves and dominance, is dangerous, harmful, and is part of the modern cycle of violence.
The object in dominant training, is to make the dog submit to a stronger force if the dog fights back. The innocent dog owner is informed (by the so called “experts”) that this behaviour shows the dog is trying to be the boss and is “dominant”!. If the dog resists or objects, the force techniques are increased. If the dog still resists - the force techniques are increased to higher and higher inducing levels. The bottom line is that you either break the dog’s spirit into submission or you break open his head or have him destroyed because of his survival, want-to-live instinct.
How tragically sad! Dominant training breaks the spiritual link of mutual respect between man and man’s best friend.
A child, who has been physically punished or has observed physical violent behaviour, will in turn use physical acts of dominance/aggression to other beings more vulnerable than himself.
Likewise, a dog that has been trained by forceful and abusive techniques will in turn become dominant to other living beings, animals, human beings and especially children!
Children who abuse animals often go on to abuse adult human beings late in life. Most criminals who have been violent towards people, share a common history of excessive and repetitive cruelty towards animals.
How children are raised shapes their values and behaviours. They learn from adult role models and the society that they live in. A home of violence, abuse, or neglect produces children who may well pass on these behaviours to the next generation, and so on.
Animals especially pets, get caught up in this cycle of family violence. In most cases the animal is the last victim in a chain of abuse that filters down from the strongest family member to the weakest. In order to understand an individual act of violence, the entire family and life history of all participants must be considered.
Evidence is mounting that violent acts are not separate and distinct events, but are part of a cycle. These findings should alert parents, social leaders, prosecutors, and judges to the occurrence of animal cruelty as a potential indication of disturbed family relationships and future antisocial activity and aggressive behaviour towards humans.
Recognising the link between animal cruelty and other violent acts may be our first line of defence in breaking down the cycle of violence in our communities.
Researchers Alan Felthouse and Stephen Kellet found that a child who learns aggression against animals, is more likely to rape, abuse and kill other humans as an adult. This it is reported that some of the worlds most violent criminals exhibited excessive cruelty towards animals.
- The New York Times, 1991: Jeffrey Dahmer, who killed 17 men and sawed up their bodies into pieces, reportedly impaled frogs and staked cats to trees in his backyard.
- The Washington Post, 1977: Mass murderer David Berkowitz, New York City’s “Son Of Sam”, was depicted by the press as hating dogs and having killed a number of neighbourhood animals in his youth.
- The Press Democrat, 1998: In Pearl, Mass., a neighbour of accused killer Luke Woodham testified that he watched the 16-year old and an alleged conspirator in the killings, Grant Boyett, 18, chase the family dog and bludgeon the animal to death.
- American Humane Association, 1998: In a study of over 57 families being treaded for incidents of child abuse, 88% also abused animals. In two-thirds of the cases, it was the abusive parent who had killed or injured the animals to control a child. In one-third, the children had abused the animals, using them as scapegoats for their anger.
- American Humane Association, 1998: In a study of 28 incarcerated sexual-homicide perpetrators (all men) researches found that 36% had abused animals in their childhood and that 46% in adolescence.
- American Humane Association, 1998: In a study using a sample of 64 men, 48% of convicted rapists and 30% of convicted child molesters admitted to cruelty to animals during their childhood or adolescence.
Experts believe that children who are unusually cruel to animals, may continue the abuse that they learned from their parents into adulthood, thus creating a cycle of violence.
