The Growing Problem of Domestic Abuse - Essay Example

Race and Animal Abuse The purpose of this grant proposal is to find a correlation, if any, between two sociological variables, race and animal abuse. Based on preliminary research, domestic violence and sociopathic behavior are more relevant as a contributing factor to animal abuse. The importance of this proposal is to illuminate race as a possible factor and show that the growing problem of domestic abuse and other sociological factors are crucial in identifying potential ,abusers therefore ruling out race as a factor to be considered. Hypothesis 1. The ethnicity or race of an individual may or may not have an effect on their propensity to abuse or not abuse animals. To prove or disprove this initial hypothesis, it would be necessary to select an equal group of individuals from every possible racial background. For example, 25 men and 25 women between the ages of twenty and forty would be selected from each racial background. These groups would include Caucasian, African American, Latino and Asian. These groups would all be blind to what the study was about. The groups would be kept separate by race and monitored in a facility for one week. Each individual would be placed with a dog. Each individual would be monitored for the duration of the week. The dogs would also be monitored. At the end of the week, the following would be determined: The behavior of the dog as compared to the behavior at the beginning of the week; the number of times each person fed, watered, petted or spent time with the dog (walking the dog etc); and of course any abuse or neglect would be determined. The possible problems with this study would be age variation in the individuals as a possible factor, whether or not each person was a "dog" person or not, whether or not the person avoided displaying abusive behavior due to feeling "watched" or observed. Possible challenges for this particular method of study might include the fact that there are several variables within the study such as both women and men. The question of whether or not males are more likely to abuse animals as opposed to females could be posed. Another variable to consider is whether the individuals in the study had been abused as children as this may play in to their tendency to be abusive as adults. Also, the fact that this study is not being conducted on a large scale may be a challenging factor. However, the relatively small size of the groups should keep costs low and should therefore be within reach. Finally, religious background could be a variable not foreseen or considered. If an individual is of Hindu faith, they will revere animals as much as human life and therefore possibly be that much less susceptible to abusive behavior towards animals. A solution to this variable dilemma may be to only select individuals of non religion. If individuals have no religious beliefs, this may even out the subjects that are being studied, that much more. Other religions, such as Santeria customarily perform animal sacrifice and therefore may view animals in a less than ethical way. Hypothesis 2. The occurrence of domestic violence and animal abuse may be correlated. If domestic abuse is more prominent in a particular race, then animal abuse must also be. "Shelter women were more likely to report that their partners had threatened to hurt their pets" (Ascione, Weber, Wood, 1997). In order to conduct a study to explore this hypothesis, one would have to narrow down the study to either domestic abusers or victims of domestic abuse" In recent years the link between animal cruelty and family violence has captured the attention of sociologists, psychologists, criminologists, and lawmakers" (Faver, Strand, 2003). The best way to go about this study would be to work within roughly 4 women's shelters. These shelters would need to be a good distance apart from one another in order to broaden the demographics of the study. Once gaining permission from the shelter and its residence, one would need to interview each woman residing there as an abuse victim. The survey would remain protect the identities of the women but would ask the following three questions: 1) Did you or did you share a pet with your abusive partner 2) If yes, did your abusive partner ever display violence or cruelty to the pet If no, did you ever see your abusive partner hurt or abuse someone else's pet or a non domesticated animal 3) What ethnicity or race is your abusive partner Once the survey was complete, the correlation between domestic abusers and animal abusers could be established. It could also be established whether or not an occurrence of one race more than another, had a higher occurrence of animal abuse. The problem with this study is that the findings would be based on word of mouth alone. There would be little to no evidence to support the information except for the word of the women being surveyed. The number of women surveyed will also need to be considered because the more women that are surveyed, the broader spectrum of race that can be accounted for. In addition, it could pose a problem that multi-variables are playing a part as race is a peripheral issue. In other words, one will be able to assume that the abusers are already capable of abusing women, which raises the likelihood that they will also be abusive to animals. However, only abusers will abuse in the first place so this may not make a difference in the actual data obtained. Hypothesis 3: Teen victims of abuse are more likely to be abusive themselves, perhaps more so in individuals of a specific race. This study is meant to be a sub-study of a much larger study which consisted of 500 teen abuse victims. This sub-study will consist of 250 victims of the 500 from the original study. This sub-study will also only consist of males. The purpose of this study will be to determine precisely (within a specific group containing individuals with a higher propensity to be abusers) whether teen abuse victims which are male, will be more likely to abuse animals if of a specific race or ethnic background. The process by which this study will be conducted is similar to the process affiliated with the first hypothesis. It will consist of the 250 male abuse victims being placed on a farm to care for farm animals for a week. They will be blind to the purpose of the study as it will be a retreat type setting. The method to be used in this study will be one of close observation by individuals conducting the study as well as hidden cameras within the areas containing the animals. The 250 subjects will be assigned certain tasks to care for and feed the animals, but will be observed while doing so. In addition, the behavior of the animals will be observed and documented before, during and after the study. Whether or not the subjects "bond" with the animals will also be studied. The study conductors will observe closely if the subjects show affection or disdain for the animals. At the end of the study, the subjects will answer a series of questions as to whether they enjoyed working with the animals or whether they disliked the animals. The possible problems with this study may include incidence of abuse toward the farm animals. This will have to be monitored as closely as possible by the study conductors. In addition, the study is dealing with two initial variables which may over shadow the results pertaining to race. The two preexisting variables are that the subjects have been abused themselves which predisposes them to abusing others (and animals), and the subjects are all male. In other words, the possibility exists that mostly Caucasians from the study were abusive, but this is only the males. Another study consisting of females may show entirely different results. In addition, studies that sequester individuals for any length of time are more costly. They also take the subject out of their natural habitat thus inciting them to behave differently in one way or another. This particular study may prove to be inconclusive due to the above listed factors and variables. An important factor to consider is that the origin of one's lineage may determine genetic factors but most likely has little to do with one's propensity to abuse animals specifically. It could be theorized that one with a genetic predisposition to higher levels of testosterone (in males) may be more compelled to display anger and aggression but not necessarily to abuse animals in particular. Also, one that has certain genetic disorders that result in aggression may also predispose one to act out in an abusive manner towards animals. But simply looking at one's race in determining affinity for violence or abuse, is not only a slippery slop but also unfounded. It is the age old question of nature versus nurture. Most existing studies show several factors responsible for an individual's tendency to abuse animals. Such known factors include having been abused and male individuals. Most importantly, this series of surveys aims to prove that race is not a determining factor in animal abuse. With each study to be conducted, it is hoped that proof will then exist that the only race predominantly responsible for animal abuse is the human race. Works Cited: http://vachss.com/guest_dispatches/ascione_2.html Risely-Curtis, Christina, Holly, Lynn C., Wolf, Shapard, 2006, The Animal-Human Bond and Ethnic Diversity, Social Work vol. 51 Faver, Catherine A., Strand, Elizabeth, 2003, Domestic Violence and Animal Cruelty: Untangling the Web of Abuse, Journal of Social Work Education vol.39 Rollin, Bernard E., 1992, Animal Rights and Human Morality, Buffalo, New York, Prometheus Books Read More