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What are the origins of First Strike ?
Research carried out there over the past 25
years has found a correlation between violent offending by adults, and childhood
and adolescent histories of series and repeated animal cruelty.
As early as 1966, Hellman and Blackman argued that cruelty to animals was one of
a triad of behaviours in children that were predictive of future criminal
behaviour.
The FBI has recognised the link since the 1970s, when bureau analysis of the
life histories of imprisoned serial killers demonstrated that many had killed or
tortured animals as children.
Other studies have shown consistent patterns of animal cruelty among
perpetrators of child abuse, partner abuse and elder abuse.
Ressler et al in 1988 examined the histories of 28 incarcerated sexual homicide
perpetrators and found that 36 per cent had committed acts of animal cruelty in
childhood, while 46 per cent had perpetrated such acts in adolescence.
Felthous and Kellert in the mid-1980s reported links between violence against
humans and against animals in two papers,
Violence Against Animals and People: Is Aggression Against Living Creatures Generalized ? and
Childhood Cruelty toward Animals among Criminals and Noncriminals.
A 1997 study by the MSPCA and Northeastern
University found that 70 per cent of animal abusers had committed at least one
other criminal offence, and almost 40 per cent had committed violent crimes
against people.
A 1986 study found that 48 per cent of convicted rapists and 30 per cent of
convicted child molesters surveyed admitted that they had perpetrated acts of
animal cruelty in childhood or adolescence.
A history of animal abuse was found in 25 per cent of aggressive male criminals,
30 per cent of convicted child molesters and 46 per cent of sexual homicide
perpetrators.
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The First Strike Campaign was launched in the
United States in 1997 by the Humane Society of the United States to make the
connection between animal cruelty and human violence.
Its two main goals were to encourage public and professional awareness of the
links between cruelty to animals and to humans, and to encourage professionals
involved in anti-violence efforts to work together.
Since the campaign began, the HSUS has conducted hundreds of First Strike
workshops in the United States, bringing together social workers, animal
protection workers, law enforcement employees, educators, prosecutors, judges,
vets and members of the public to facilitate the development of co-ordinated
community responses to violence against both people and animals.
Its most important achievement has been to facilitate co-operation between
professionals such as child protection workers, women’s refuges and animal
protection agencies.
Many of these professionals are now trained to observe and report on all types
of cruelty. For instance, child protection workers who see neglected or
ill-treated animals will report that to the local humane society.
Laws in many states make it mandatory for professionals to report all abuse they
observe.
Women’s refuges commonly find that women are reluctant to leave violent
relationships as they are not permitted to take pets to refuges, but fear for
their safety if they are left behind.
Animal shelters now provide care for pets while the women are in a refuge.
Rancho Coastal Humane Society in San Diego created one of the first Animal
Safehouse programmes in the United States.
It reports that 80 to 90 per cent of women who have participated in the
Safehouse programme said their animals had been abused.
MORE INFORMATION :
www.hsus.org/firststrike
Felthous, A and Kellert, S, Violence Against Animals and People: Is
Aggression Against Living Creatures Generalized ? Bull Am Acad Psychiatry
Law, Vol 14, No 1, 1986, 55-69.
Kellert, S and Felthous, A, Childhood Cruelty toward Animals among Criminals
and Noncriminals, Human Relations Volume 38, Number 12, 1113-1129
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Where does First Strike operate ?
First Strike originated in the United States.
First Strike is now also operating in Scotland.
Hutton’s 1981 study in the United Kingdom focused on 23 families investigated by
the RSPCA for animal cruelty.It found that 82 per cent of the families were
known to social services as having at risk children.
In 1998 an informal research group was convened by Dr Lorna Bell, then at
Stirling University, to promote research into links between cruelty to animals
and to humans. Priorities for research were identified as a full literature
review, an inquiry into referrals to psychology units of young people on the
grounds of animal abuse, and research into humane education programmes.
A second conference for children’s charities, social workers, domestic violence
specialists and other interested parties took place in October 1999. Issues
discussed included veterinary and paediatric cases illustrating comparisons
between non-accidental injuries to children and to animals.
In 1997 the Scottish SPCA launched the first United Kingdom campaign to raise
awareness of links between animal and human abuse.
Dr Randall Lockwood of the HSUS spoke at a 1998 conference at Tayside,
explaining how understanding of the link between cruelty to animals and to
people was now an integral part of the American legal system. In particular, it
was relevant to offender profiling, animal welfare practices and sentencing
policy.
Following the conference, the Scottish SPCA and Tayside Police launched the
First Strike Scotland pilot project, aiming to further increase awareness of the
correlation between animal abuse and family violence, and encourage
cross-reporting. Police officers agreed to contact the Scottish SPCA if they
found animal cruelty when investigating domestic violence and child abuse.
Scottish SPCA inspectors informed the police if they suspected a child or
partner was being abused in a household where they found animal cruelty.
An agreement was reached between Scottish Women’s Aid and Pet Fostering Service
Scotland, whereby PFSS would foster pets belonging to women going into refuges.
On 5 March 2003 the NSPCC and the RSPCA launched a campaign to make
professionals working with children, families or animals more aware of patterns
of violence in the home, and more willing to collaborate on inquiries.
First Strike is now also established in New Zealand, and is being introduced to
Australia.
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When did First Strike Start in New Zealand ?
The concept of First Strike was introduced to
New Zealand at a conference held at Unitec in Auckland in May 2001.
First Strike – Animal Cruelty/ Human Violence and Veterinary Forensics In
Criminal & Civil Proceedings was the brainchild of barrister and Unitec
School of Animal Health and Welfare programme leader, Neil Wells. He brought to
New Zealand Dr Randall Lockwood and United Kingdom veterinary pathologist, Dr
John Cooper to speak at the conference.
Dr Lockwood gave the keynote address, outlining the connection between animal
abuse and violence against humans revealed by decades of research in the United
States. Dr Lockwood then spoke about the First Strike campaign in the United
States.
Then-Commissioner for Children, Roger McClay, then-Women’s Refuge chief
executive Merepeka Raukawa-Tait and Auckland SPCA chief executive Bob Kerridge
spoke about violence against women, children and animals in New Zealand.
A panel discussion was held to exchange ideas about how different agencies could
co-operate.
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Is there New Zealand Research About Links Between Cruelty to Animals and Other Types of Violence ?
Otara Child Youth and Family Services
supervisor, Briar Humphrey, in 2002 conducted a three month sabbatical project
and produced a paper titled Child Welfare/ Animal Welfare – A Discussion
Document. Ms Humphrey explored aspects of the animal welfare sector’s
relationship with child welfare in Auckland, in co-operation with the Auckland
SPCA. She spoke with animal welfare trainers, managers and frontline staff and
concluded there was much child protection social workers could learn from
animal welfare professionals working in the same communities, and often in the
same homes.
Ms Humphrey suggested that child protection social workers should in future
include in their assessments of abusive and neglectful families consideration
of family pets. She said information about the treatment of pets and the
children’s attachments to animals often spoke volumes about the children and
the family. The paper said children and young persons who were violent and
cruel to animals needed immediate help. Such behaviour should be taken
seriously by parents and those working in child protection. It noted that
there were successful models of child and animal welfare agency co-operation
throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.
Ms Humphrey made six recommendations:
That a memorandum of understanding should exist between child welfare and animal welfare.
That a reciprocal reporting arrangement should exist.
That CYFS should support the set-up or modification of an existing panel consisting of child welfare, animal welfare and police personnel, initially in South Auckland, as an effective approach to family violence.
Further training should be required for frontline social work staff. It should include information about the link between animal abuse and neglect and child abuse and neglect, the resources and statutory powers of animal welfare officers, and the value of including in assessments of children and their families information about pets.
Further training should be required for animal welfare officers, including recognition of signs of abuse and neglect in children, information about child protection laws, and reporting of child abuse and neglect.
CYFS in South Auckland should begin this work as an initial model for the rest of the country.
Arnja Dale, Nancy Clarke and Virginia Williams
of Unitec are working on securing funding to carry out New Zealand research into
links between violence against people and against animals. An experienced
researcher has been found in Unitec’s School of Health and Community Studies.
She is willing to do the interviewing required and has considerable experience
in interviewing children.
Two initial groups will be studied first. Women who have owned pets while in an
abusive relationship will be compared with a community sample, and vets, animal
control and animal welfare officers will be surveyed to assess their knowledge
of and attitudes towards animal abuse and the link to human violence.
Once those first two areas of research have been completed, attitudes about
animal cruelty held by children who have been in violent situations will be
studied. Results from the research are expected to be available by November
2005.
MORE INFORMATION: An article about Ms
Humphrey’s work is published in Social Work Now, December 2002, pp 4-8.
The publication is produced by CYFS.
The Editor, Social Work Now, P O Box 2620, Wellington, Phone 04 9189162
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What is the First Strike Working Group ?
On 7 November 2002 the Unitec School of Animal
Health and Welfare, MAF and the Animal Welfare Institute of New Zealand
organised a workshop to follow up on the May 2001 conference by exploring
further the links between animal cruelty, child abuse, and partner abuse and
establishing an action plan for co-operation between agencies.
It was agreed that
A mechanism should be established for sharing information between agencies,
Rescue procedures should be implemented for domestic violence victims with animals, and
Research into links between cruelty to animals and to humans should be carried out in New Zealand.
The New Zealand First Strike Working Group
held its first meeting on 12 December 2002. Present were Mr Wells and Ms
Humphrey, as well as representatives from the Auckland SPCA and RNZSPCA, the NZ
Police Family Violence Unit, animal management and welfare groups, Plunket,
family lawyers and the NZ Veterinary Association.
The group agreed it would function as an umbrella organisation to create and
maintain co-operation between different agencies working to combat violence.
Meetings would be held around three times a year, from 1.30pm to 3.30 pm on a
Thursday afternoon at Unitec in Auckland. The group would work on publicising
information about First Strike and the links between cruelty to animals and to
people.
It was agreed that animal welfare organisations needed to be trained to detect
signs of child abuse. Unitec could include information about child abuse and the
role of CYFS in its Certificate in Animal Welfare Investigation.
Val Ball of the RNZSPCA said she would start a pilot group in the Wairarapa to
promote co-operation between local agencies.
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First Strike Working Group meetings were held
several times a year in 2003 and 2004. It has been agreed that the group will
meet three times in 2005. The first meeting for 2005 will be at 1.30pm on 3
March 2005. The initiatives advanced by First Strike in its first two years of
operation in New Zealand are outlined below.
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What is First Strike doing in New Zealand ?
CYFS social workers now receive information
about animal abuse during their training. Ms Humphrey is preparing a journal
article about this training. John Loof of Auckland SPCA has assisted with the
training. Ms Humphrey runs training sessions twice a year in Auckland and plans
to extend these to Wellington as well.
Jane Franklin of First Strike has trained frontline police staff about animal
abuse as a risk indicator in domestic violence. The police have a risk indicator
form that lists risk factors, including “the offender has killed or mutilated a
pet.” Staff are now aware of the link between violence against animals and
potential violence to humans.
SPCA Auckland is developing a secondary school resource highlighting issues
about domestic violence and animal abuse, the correlation between the two and
how they affect society. First Strike information will be included.
SPCA Auckland inspectors are aware of the importance of passing on any
information about domestic violence obtained when they enter properties on
animal welfare matters. Ms Humphrey will speak to SPCA inspectors about child
abuse issues in the near future.
Contact is to be established between the North Shore SPCA Inspector and Rachel
Leece of the Family Violence Prevention Network (North Shore.) A link to the
First Strike website is available from SPCA Auckland’s website.
CYFS stickers and cards are to be provided to SPCA officers.
The Animals in Schools Education Trust provides information about animal issues
for use in primary and secondary schools.
Wellington-based Learning Media Ltd is proposing to develop an education
resource on animal health and welfare. The aims of the resource are to help
teachers understand the connection between animal abuse and child abuse so that
they can recognise when intervention is required, and to foster healthy and
respectful relationships between children and animals.
MORE INFORMATION :
Animals in Schools Education Trust - Catherine Smith, New Zealand Veterinary
Association,
nzva@vets.org.nz
www.learningmedia.co.nz
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What is First Strike doing in the Wairarapa ?
Val Ball of the RNZSPCA has been closely
involved in a number of developments in the Wairarapa.
A meeting was held in early 2003 between the Safer Community Council, Women’s
Refuge, Strengthening Families and other agencies. Ms Ball advised those
attending that the SPCA was willing to care for pets needing fostering when
women left violent relationships. Ms Ball has distributed information about
First Strike and Ms Humphrey’s paper to organisations in the Wairarapa.
The Wairarapa has a campaign called The Rise Above It Campaign aimed at
combating violence in the community.
The Wairarapa is developing a model for use in other regions, aiming to have
welfare groups working together to identify neglect and abuse, provide a network
within which families can be assisted with animal and child care education, and
establish a confidential reporting system whereby concerns can be notified and
followed up.
Ms Ball sent out a memo to SPCAs asking how many were interested in training
about these issues, and nine SPCAs responded positively.
In 2004 Ms Ball attended meetings with the Stopping Violence Campaign in
Masterton, and continued to provide information to local groups about the work
of the SPCA and the links between animal abuse and domestic violence. Several
smaller SPCAs in other parts of New Zealand have now made connections with other
local community groups, but there is still some reluctance about this. Many
SPCAs feel that they are animal welfare officers, and not social workers.
Ms Ball has suggested that all SPCA inspectors should visit their local CYFS
office to make contact with social workers. Ms Ball in her own work as an SPCA
inspector has made three notifications about possible neglect of children on
properties from which the SPCA has uplifted dogs.
Ms Ball secured funding for a Kids Day at the SPCA Centre on 1 October 2004. The
day was part of World Animal Day and Animal Awareness Week. The theme of
“Kindness” was adopted, and was promoted by the SPCA and CYFS. A T-shirt
was produced for the day. It had on it a picture drawn by a child and carried
the slogan “Be Kind to All of Us.”
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Where can I get more information about First Strike ?
A pamphlet about First Strike in New Zealand
has been produced and is available to explain the work of First Strike. A number
of articles have been published in the media about First Strike, with the aim of
informing the public about the concepts behind First Strike and encouraging more
people to become involved.
A First Strike website has been developed by Vijay, who has very kindly donated
all his time to do this. He has also agreed to maintain the website.
Copies of two different videos about First Strike overseas made by the Latham
Foundation have been obtained and distributed to groups in New Zealand. Breaking
The Cycles of Violence and Breaking The Cycles of Violence II highlight
coalitions in which humane societies, child protection services, law enforcement
and victim advocates combine their resources and co-operate to help all victims
of domestic violence. More information about American resources can be obtained
from
www.dvert.org;
www.wihumane.org and
www.latham.org.
The videos can be borrowed by contacting Neil Wells at Unitec in Auckland.
MORE INFORMATION: www.firststrike.org.nz
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What else is First Strike Planning to do ?
It is hoped to hold a conference in November
2005 to mark three years of First Strike in New Zealand. The tentative date will
be 19 November to coincide with World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse.
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