Ending Human-Animal Maltreatment Cycles Through the Use of Trauma- Informed Therapy

Abstract

This article proposes that many individuals who commit maltreatment (cruelty or abuse/acts of commission, neglect/acts of omission, or violence) against animals are doing so in reaction to trauma they experienced earlier in their lives. This trauma may have come from events in which individuals experienced direct maltreatment or observed maltreatment, which such individuals then adopted as a way of managing their trauma-induced symptoms and/or trauma-induced mental illness, particularly Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Legal, mental health, and social work fields should develop an interconnected program that can 1) curb the presence of the human-animal (and hopefully human-human) abuse cycle (or maltreatment cycle) in society; 2) heal or resolve individuals of their underlying, trauma-induced reasons for committing maltreatment; and 3) protect would-be victims from future maltreatment by using trauma- informed therapies like Cognitive Processing Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy.