Correlation Between Aggression Towards Animals and Aggression Towards People Based on Research Records

Abstract

In the English-language literature, it is indicated, that the perpetrators of domestic violence very often use violence against animals. At the same time, there is no Polish research confirming or falsifying the hypothesis of the existence of such correlation. Therefore, the main aim of this work is an attempt to define, on the basis of the results of the author's research, is there any relationship between the phenomenon of aggression towards animals and propensity to be aggressive towards people. The subject of analysis is the content of the court records in criminal cases concerning the Article 35 of the Act on the Protection of Animals. The research included criminal proceedings instituted against persons accused of a prohibited act in the form of animal killing or cruelty to animals. On the basis of the established criteria, there were selected criminal cases in which there may have occurred the relationship between the use of aggression by perpetrators towards animals and people. The personal and cognitive data of the selected perpetrators as well as psychiatric opinion allowed the author to present the characteristics of the examined population and identify factors that could have played an important role in the genesis of acts of aggression.