Linkages between Animal Abuse and Sibling Crime Victimization in the United States

Background

Previous research has found that intentional animal abuse is the most common type of animal cruelty among intimate partner violence and family violence, and sibling relationships are the second most common family relationships for family violence involving animal cruelty (Addington & Randour, 2024). Yet, minimal research has considered the variables of animal cruelty and sibling violence. Given that social workers interact with families, they are likely to encounter both animal abuse and sibling violence when working with families. This study examines the prevalence of and established link between animal cruelty and victimization of siblings in a national crime reporting database.

Methods

Using the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2023 National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) dataset (ICPSR 39270), the researchers examined the prevalence of both animal abuse and crimes committed against siblings as well as associations between these two variables. The dataset is publicly available and includes roughly over 12.3 million cases of crimes committed and reported to the FBI in 2023. Along with demographics, data analysis included examining prevalence for both animal abuse and sibling victimization, examining the types of crimes committed against a sibling, and the association between experiencing crime victimization from a sibling and instances of animal abuse.

Findings

Of the 12,351,550 reported crimes, 22,312 (.2%) were reports of animal cruelty, 118,753 (1%) were biological or adoptive sibling victims of a crime, 4775 (<.01%) were stepsibling victims of a crime, and 123,343 (1%) were any type of sibling victim of a crime. The most common types of crimes committed toward a sibling included simple assault, aggravated assault, and intimidation. Chi-square analysis found an association between biological and/or adoptive sibling victim of a crime an animal abuse (χ2(1)=119.99, p<.001), with 55 (.2%) cases were where a sibling was the victim where animal abuse also occurred. Being a step sibling victim of a crime was not associated with an animal abuse (χ2(1)=3.68, p=.06). Being any type of sibling victim of a crime was associated with an animal abuse (χ2(1)=123.36, p<.001), with 58 (.3%) cases were where a sibling was the victim where animal abuse also occurred.

Conclusions

This study is one of the first to explicitly examine the association of animal abuse and sibling victimization as reported crimes to the FBI. The findings suggest that despite the substantial prevalence of sibling victimization in the crimes reported, the instances of animal abuse when the victim is a sibling are minimal. However, this does not consider all of the instances of both violence directed toward a sibling or instances of animal abuse that are not reported, which is likely higher given that sibling violence is the most common form of family violence that exists (Straus et al. 2006). Along with further research aimed at continued understanding of the association between animal abuse and sibling victimization, social work practitioners should consider including assessments of sibling violence and animal abuse when working with individuals and families throughout the lifespan.