Zoosadism

Zoosadism is pleasure derived from cruelty to animals. Zoosadism is part of the Macdonald triad, a set of three behaviors that are a precursor to sociopathic behavior. The term was coined by Ernest Borneman.

Research

In 1971, American researchers profiled the typical animal harmer as being a nine-and-a-half-year-old boy, with an I.Q. of 91 and a history of gross parental abuse. Studies have shown that individuals who enjoy or are willing to inflict harm on animals are more likely to do so to humans. One of the known warning signs of certain psychopathologies, including antisocial personality disorder, is a history of torturing pets and small animals. According to the New York Times:

The FBI has found that a history of cruelty to animals is one of the traits that regularly appear in its computer records of serial rapists and murderers, and the standard diagnostic and treatment manual for psychiatric and emotional disorders lists cruelty to animals as a diagnostic criterion for conduct disorders.

Helen Gavin observed in Criminological and Forensic Psychology (2013):

This is not a universal trait, though. Dennis Nilsen had difficulty initiating social contact with people, but loved his faithful companion, Bleep, a mongrel bitch. After his arrest, he was very concerned for her welfare, as she was taken to the police station too.

Alan R. Felthous reported in his paper "Aggression Against Cats, Dogs, and People" (1980):

A survey of psychiatric patients who had repeatedly tortured dogs and cats found all of them had high levels of aggression toward people as well, including one patient who had murdered a boy.

This is a commonly reproduced finding, and for this reason, violence toward animals is considered a warning sign of potential violence towards humans.

Legal status

In the United States, since 2010, it has been a federal offense to create or distribute "obscene" depictions of "living non-human mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians ... subjected to serious bodily injury". This statute replaced an overly broad 1999 statute which was found unconstitutional in United States v. Stevens.

Criticism

Critics of the concept of a general neurological basis for cruelty to animals, let alone generalization to humans, cite the fact that animals can be cruel to some animals yet caring to other animals, combined with Pavlov's studies showing that humans can discriminate in fine ways that animals cannot, and conclude that there is no such general basis. The exact way these critics explain studies that seems to show links varies, but most of them state that psychiatric and criminological studies are subject to institutional bias and self-fulfilling prophecies.

Insects

Zoosadism towards insects is also exhibited by some. The classic example of this subvariety of "schoolyard viciousness" is the child who pulls off a fly's wings. The Roman historian Suetonius, in his The Twelve Caesars, claimed that the Emperor Domitian amused himself by catching flies and impaling them with needles.

Notable zoosadists

• Dennis Rader
• Jun Matsubara
• Jim Jones
• John Duffy and David Mulcahy
• Richard Chase
• Ed Kemper

See also

• Animal abuse
• Bearbaiting
• Bloodsport
• Cat-burning
• Cruelty to animals

External links

• Four-legged Forensics: What Forensic Nurses Need to Know and Do About Animal Cruelty