forensic nurse - News & Views

Offenders of violent crimes are significantly more likely to have abused pets and stray animals in their childhood, according to a study by University of South Florida professor Kathleen Heide and animal welfare expert Linda Merz-Perez. Indicating that animal abuse during childhood serves as a “red flag” early on, the study is the first to provide both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the correlation between childhood animal cruelty and adult violent behavior. The results are published in Heide’s recently released third book, Animal Cruelty: Pathway to Violence Against People, co-authored by Merz-Perez.

The study findings have far-reaching implications for the fields of juvenile justice, domestic abuse, animal welfare and rights, developmental psychology and law enforcement. The results bring to the forefront important issues for parents and guardians, such as taking the first signs of cruelty toward animals seriously and immediately intervening in instances of abuse.

“We’re not just talking about kicking a dog here,” Heide said. “The violent offenders, in sharp contrast to the non-violent offenders, were far more likely as children to have committed extreme acts of abuse against a family pet or neighborhood animals-acts that the average person would find abhorrent and somewhat gruesome.” Acts of animal cruelty reported by violent offenders included stomping a kitten to death, setting a dog on fire and having sex with an animal.

Participants for the scientific study were selected from a random sample of approximately 100 male violent and non-violent inmates at a maximum-security facility. Among the violent offenders, 33 percent were convicted of murder, manslaughter or attempted murder; 31 percent were convicted of sexual battery; and the rest were convicted of other violent offenses. The researchers interviewed the participants and then coded the data using two data collection instruments: The first identified the type of cruelty according to pet, stray, wild and farm animal categories, and the second measured levels of abuse and neglect that inmates reported experiencing in their families.

Heide and Merz-Perez found that the incidence of child abuse and neglect in the two samples was high. What set the violent offenders apart from the non-violent offenders was not their histories of child abuse. Rather, it was their experiences mistreating animals as children. In addition to being significantly more likely than non-violent offenders to have abused pet and stray animals, violent offenders also showed a tendency toward abuse of wild and farm animals.

“We noticed in some cases that the type of abuse violent offenders inflicted on an animal was similar to the type of act they later committed on people,” Heide said. “Also, violent offenders rarely expressed any remorse for their actions or empathy for the animals.”

The study points out that early intervention following an act of animal cruelty is imperative to helping ensure that adolescents do not follow a path of violent behavior.

Intervention by Nurses Can Dramatically Increase Safety of Battered Women, Study Finds

SIX PHONE CALLS over eight weeks from nurses to women experiencing domestic violence can significantly increase their safety-promoting behaviors, with impact that lasts for at least 18 months. That is the conclusion of a new study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Nursing. It provides the strongest evidence yet that healthcare providers who intervene with women who are battered can help save their lives.

Researchers randomly assigned battered women who sought civil protection orders to treatment and control groups, using a 15-item checklist to probe their safety-promoting behaviors at six intervals over eight weeks. These behaviors include removing weapons from the home, hiding a set of car keys, asking neighbors to call police if they hear an altercation, and copying down bank account numbers. Follow-up at three, six, 12 and 18 months after intake determined that the average number of safety-promoting behaviors practiced by women in the treatment group increased by two from intake to three months; an average increase of nearly two was sustained over 18 months.

“This is the first study to take a long-term look at the effect of intervention by healthcare providers,” said Family Violence Prevention Fund managing director Debbie Lee. “Six phone calls totaling less than one hour had a dramatic impact on a woman’s ability to protect herself and her children from domestic abuse. This study provides the most compelling evidence yet that intervention by health care providers can help battered women escape abuse.”

Funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, the study was conducted by Judith McFarlane, DrPH, RN, FAAN; Ann Malecha, PhD; Julia Gist, PhD, RN; Kathy Watson, MS; Elizabeth Batten, BA; Iva Hall, PhD, RN; and Sheila Smith, PhD, RN.

17-21 Spring Bloodstain Institute Course
Bloodstain Evidence Institute, Corning, N.Y.
Contact: Herbert MacDonnell,

25-28 National Sexual Violence Prevention Conference,
“Building Leadership and Commitment to End Sexual Violence”
Los Angeles
For more details, visit www.ojp.usdoj.gov

1, 2-5 Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Program
Program to be held June 1, 1p.m. to 6 p.m.; and June 2-5, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Monmouth University
Contact Barbara Paskewich,
or .

2-3 17th Annual Death Scene Investigation: A Forensic Entomology Field Training Workshop
Rensselaer, Ind.
Contact: Neal Haskell, PhD,
or

7-11 Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner Course
Palomar Pomerado SART/California Hospital Medical Center SART University Community Medical Center, Escondido, Calif.
Contact: Diana Faugno,

7-12 Basic Forensic Pathology for Law Enforcement and Death Investigators
Christian Brothers University,
Memphis, Tenn.
Contact: Ed Waldrip,
or

25-26 Second Annual Conference on Intimate Violence
“Finding New Directions for Responding to Intimate Violence”
Philadelphia
For more details, visit www.ssw.upenn.edu

8-15 National Association of Medical Examiners Annual Meeting
Loews Vanderbilt Hotel,
Nashville, Tenn.
Contact: Mary Fran Ernst,
, ext. 9 or

1-5 Medicolegal Death Investigator Training Course
Saint Louis University School of Medicine,
St. Louis, Mo.
Contact: Mary Fran Ernst,
http://medschool.slu.edu/masters

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