Children's experiences of companion animal maltreatment in households characterized by intimate partner violence

Abstract

Cruelty toward companion animals is a well-documented, coercive tactic used by abusive partners to intimidate and control their intimate partners. Experiences of co-occurring violence are common for children living in families with intimate partner violence (IPV) and surveys show that more than half are also exposed to abuse of their pets. Given children’s relationships with their pets, witnessing such abuse may be traumatic for them. Yet little is known about the prevalence and significance of this issue for children. The present study examines the experiences of children in families with co-occurring pet abuse and IPV. Using qualitative methods, 58 children ages 7-12 who were exposed to IPV were asked to describe their experiences of threats to and harm of their companion animals. Following the interviews, template analysis was employed to systematically develop codes and themes. Coding reliability was assessed using Randolph's free-marginal multirater kappa (kfree = .90). Five themes emerged from the qualitative data, the most common being children’s exposure to pet abuse as a power and control tactic against their mother in the context of IPV. Other themes were animal maltreatment to discipline or punish the pet, animal cruelty by a sibling, children intervening to prevent pet abuse, and children intervening to protect the pet during a violent episode. Results indicate that children’s experiences of pet abuse are multifaceted, potentially traumatic, and may involve multiple family members with diverse motives.

Intimate Partner Violence Survivors’ Reports of Their Children’s Exposure to Companion Animal Maltreatment: A Qualitative Study

“…That is, women in our study recounted pets being mistreated by threats to kill or harm, and kicking, punching, strangling, and the use of guns and other weapons. The theme of children’s proximity to animal maltreatment is consistent with prior qualitative research on children’s self-reports of exposure to animal maltreatment, which has documented children’s direct exposure to animal maltreatment in the context of violent interparental conflict as well as incidents when animals are harshly punished for undesired behaviors (McDonald et al, 2015). It is important to note that directly witnessing (seeing) interparental violence puts children at greater risk of compromised developmental outcomes than indirect exposure such as being told about violent acts or seeing the affective or environmental aftereffects of violence (Hamby et al, 2011).…”

“…In high-stress, unpredictable environments such as households experiencing family violence, exposure to animal abuse may be particularly traumatic for children for whom pets serve as security-providing attachment figures (McDonald et al, 2015; Melson, 2003; Yorke, 2010). Moreover, recent qualitative research suggests that violence in families where animal maltreatment is present is multidirectional and children’s exposure to animal maltreatment is often complex, involving violence at the hands of multiple family members with multifarious motives (McDonald et al, 2015). Reporting on qualitative interview data from 58 school-aged (7–12 years) children recruited from residential and nonresidential DV services, McDonald et al (2015) found three themes across children’s accounts of their exposure to animal maltreatment.…”

“…Moreover, recent qualitative research suggests that violence in families where animal maltreatment is present is multidirectional and children’s exposure to animal maltreatment is often complex, involving violence at the hands of multiple family members with multifarious motives (McDonald et al, 2015). Reporting on qualitative interview data from 58 school-aged (7–12 years) children recruited from residential and nonresidential DV services, McDonald et al (2015) found three themes across children’s accounts of their exposure to animal maltreatment. Most prevalently, children reported experiencing their mother’s abusive partner engage in threats and violence against animals to coerce their mother’s compliance or retaliate against their mother’s actions.…”

“…Children are unable to report on exposure that occurred early in their development, and their ability to identify animal maltreatment exposure may be limited by their developmental capacities. School-aged children may also underreport or fail to recognize threats to and harm of animals as they normalize and legitimize injury to pets when they perceive justification for the maltreatment (i.e., the pet was misbehaving and “deserved it”; McDonald et al, 2015). Moreover, this process of identifying and comprehending animal maltreatment experiences may be complicated by children’s desensitization to violence as a result of frequent exposure to interpersonal and animal-directed aggression in households characterized by IPV (Delsol & Margolin, 2004; Falshaw, 2005).…”

Child maltreatment

“…In another study about the impact of domestic violence on children, McDonald et al [9] studied the co-occurrence of animal abuse and domestic violence. The authors found several different common scenarios, including a perpetrator hurting an animal to punish their adult partner, an animal getting caught in the middle of an episode of violence, a sibling injuring a pet, and children intervening to prevent pet abuse or to protect a pet caught up in the middle of violence.…”