Title of Presentation
Keynote: Animal abuse and interpersonal violence: The evolution of a research domain
Start Date
11-10-2018 8:30 AM
End Date
11-10-2018 9:30 AM
Abstract
Dr. Frank Ascione, Inaugural American Humane Endowed Chair, and Scholar-in-Residence, Graduate School of Social Work and the Institute for Human-Animal Connection, University of Denver
Dr. Frank Ascione is an internationally renowned scholar with over twenty years of experience specifically researching the co-occurrence of family violence and animal abuse. Dr. Ascione is widely recognized as the founder of this field of scholarship with the publication of his foundational works in this area. He has provided testimony to state legislatures in five states in the United States regarding animal cruelty legislation and has been featured in popular media, including CNN, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and The New York Times. Dr. Ascione’s talk will address risk assessment for front line practitioners and provide a review of evidence based approaches for addressing the co-occurrence of violence against women and animals in practice settings.
Animal abuse and interpersonal violence: The evolution of a research domain
Cruelty to animals or animal abuse (AA) as a potential correlate of human interpersonal violence has received increasing research attention as a result, in part, of the inclusion of this behavior among the symptoms of Conduct Disorder delineated in DSM-III-R in 1987. Pioneering research by Felthous and Kellert examined AA in the context of adult criminality and Tapia (1971) explored the potential etiology or correlates of AA in a sample of child psychiatric patients. The substantial body of literature on AA and its relation to child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, and other crimes has been reviewed by Ascione (2005, 2008). The veterinary profession has also addressed the problem of AA and the challenges presented to forensic assessment of such incidents and the implications for both their human and nonhuman clients.
This presentation reviews the evolution of psychiatric nosology on AA from the early work of Burt (1925) to the current edition of the DSM (2013). Special attention is paid to the issues of age of onset and a recently-added Conduct Disorder specifier – “callous and unemotional traits”. Forensic issues related to AA include: a) difficulties in assessing an often covert behavior, b) AA in its physical forms and its relation to bestiality, c) the increasing number of US states than now include pets and other animals in orders of protection, d) the ubiquity of felony-level AA statutes in the US, and e) the recent decision to include AA in the National Incident-Based Reporting System for criminal activity and the acknowledgement by the US Department of Homeland Security of AA as a risk factor in terrorism. I also report on the first longitudinal study designed specifically to examine AA in the context of intimate partner violence using reports by women survivors and their school-aged children.
Keynote: Animal abuse and interpersonal violence: The evolution of a research domain
Dr. Frank Ascione, Inaugural American Humane Endowed Chair, and Scholar-in-Residence, Graduate School of Social Work and the Institute for Human-Animal Connection, University of Denver
Dr. Frank Ascione is an internationally renowned scholar with over twenty years of experience specifically researching the co-occurrence of family violence and animal abuse. Dr. Ascione is widely recognized as the founder of this field of scholarship with the publication of his foundational works in this area. He has provided testimony to state legislatures in five states in the United States regarding animal cruelty legislation and has been featured in popular media, including CNN, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and The New York Times. Dr. Ascione’s talk will address risk assessment for front line practitioners and provide a review of evidence based approaches for addressing the co-occurrence of violence against women and animals in practice settings.
Animal abuse and interpersonal violence: The evolution of a research domain
Cruelty to animals or animal abuse (AA) as a potential correlate of human interpersonal violence has received increasing research attention as a result, in part, of the inclusion of this behavior among the symptoms of Conduct Disorder delineated in DSM-III-R in 1987. Pioneering research by Felthous and Kellert examined AA in the context of adult criminality and Tapia (1971) explored the potential etiology or correlates of AA in a sample of child psychiatric patients. The substantial body of literature on AA and its relation to child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, and other crimes has been reviewed by Ascione (2005, 2008). The veterinary profession has also addressed the problem of AA and the challenges presented to forensic assessment of such incidents and the implications for both their human and nonhuman clients.
This presentation reviews the evolution of psychiatric nosology on AA from the early work of Burt (1925) to the current edition of the DSM (2013). Special attention is paid to the issues of age of onset and a recently-added Conduct Disorder specifier – “callous and unemotional traits”. Forensic issues related to AA include: a) difficulties in assessing an often covert behavior, b) AA in its physical forms and its relation to bestiality, c) the increasing number of US states than now include pets and other animals in orders of protection, d) the ubiquity of felony-level AA statutes in the US, and e) the recent decision to include AA in the National Incident-Based Reporting System for criminal activity and the acknowledgement by the US Department of Homeland Security of AA as a risk factor in terrorism. I also report on the first longitudinal study designed specifically to examine AA in the context of intimate partner violence using reports by women survivors and their school-aged children.
