1 School of Psychology, Keynes College, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom.
Trauma Violence Abuse. 2019 Jul;20(3):344-357. doi: 10.1177/1524838017708785. Epub 2017 May 24.
Adults perpetrate the majority of animal abuse incidents yet clinicians are left with very little evidence base to advance/enhance their practice. The purpose of this systematic review is to synthesize and evaluate the current literature on adult-perpetrated animal abuse and to identify the etiological factors related to this type of offending. Twenty-three studies met the specific inclusion criteria but most importantly, they examined the characteristics of adult perpetrators of animal abuse. The findings from this review were demarcated by sample type: (1) Participants were the perpetrators of the animal abuse or held offense-supportive attitudes and (2) participants were victims of intimate partner violence reporting incidents of animal abuse perpetrated by their partner. From the perpetrator perspective, there were key developmental (i.e., maladaptive parenting strategies), behavioral (such as varied offending behaviors), and psychological (e.g., callousness, empathy deficits) factors highlighted in the literature. Finally, in the context of intimate partner violence, findings indicated that perpetrators abuse animals to control, coerce, intimidate, and/or manipulate their victims (this effect is moderated by the victims' emotional attachment to their pet). This review inherently underlines treatment targets that could achieve greater clinical gains, but we also conclude that more empirical and theoretical work is needed in order to set an agenda that prioritizes future research and effective practice.
成年人是大多数虐待动物事件的施害者，但临床医生几乎没有证据基础来推进/增强他们的实践。本系统综述的目的是综合和评估当前关于成年人实施虐待动物的文献，并确定与这种犯罪类型相关的病因因素。有 23 项研究符合具体的纳入标准，但最重要的是，它们检查了虐待动物的成年施害者的特征。本综述的结果根据样本类型划分：(1)参与者是虐待动物的施害者或持有支持犯罪的态度，以及(2)参与者是亲密伴侣暴力的受害者，报告其伴侣实施虐待动物的事件。从施害者的角度来看，文献中强调了关键的发展因素（即适应不良的育儿策略）、行为因素（如多种犯罪行为）和心理因素（如冷漠、同理心缺陷）。最后，在亲密伴侣暴力的背景下，研究结果表明，施害者虐待动物是为了控制、胁迫、恐吓和/或操纵受害者（受害者对宠物的情感依恋会调节这种影响）。本综述强调了可以实现更大临床收益的治疗目标，但我们也得出结论，需要更多的实证和理论工作，以便制定一个优先考虑未来研究和有效实践的议程。
