Animal abuse and youth violence. (Bulletin Reports).

A resurgence of interest in the relation between cruelty to animals, or animal abuse, and serious violent behavior, especially among young offenders, has occurred in the past 20 years. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) presents Animal Abuse and Youth Violence, a report on the psychiatric, psychological, and criminological research linking animal abuse to juvenile- and adult perpetrated violence. It addresses the challenge of defining animal abuse and examines the difficulty of deriving accurate incidence and prevalence data for this behavior. Additionally, it explores the relationships between animal abuse and conduct disorder, analyzes the motives of child and adolescent animal abusers, and considers the contexts that may lead to the emergence of animal abuse as a symptom of psychological disorder. The importance of including information about animal abuse in assessments of youth at risk of committing interpersonal violence is emphasized throughout, and a list of national orga nizations with programs related to the link between animal abuse and other violent behavior also is provided. For a copy of this bulletin, call the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse at 800-638-8736 or access OJJDP's Web site at http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org.