Content
- Violence against animals
- Animal aggressor: personality traits
- the personality of an aggressor
- Are people who mistreat animals psychopaths?
- What happens to people who mistreat animals?
- Mistreatment of animals: SAY NO!
Cruelty is a characteristic present in many human beings and, in some situations, it can be reflected in the way they treat animals. Despite being very sad and frustrating, the mistreatment of animals is still alive in our society and cases are quite recurrent.
When we think of violence against animals, immediately comes to mind the image of a person hitting or screaming at their pet, without any feeling or scruple... But how exactly is the psychological profile of people who mistreat animals? In this article by PeritoAnimal, we will describe the profile of an aggressor and thus, you will be able to identify this type of person and prevent them from continuing to exercise violence against animals.
Violence against animals
First, it is necessary to define what the violence against animals. It is characterized by an intentional attitude of cruelty, violence or abandonment of an animal, whether wild, domestic or stray.
Although most people openly condemn this type of attitude, there are still many ways to mistreatment of animals, for example: the state in which domestic animals are raised and then sold at absurd prices in some stores or the practice of bullfighting that still exists in Spain. However, little by little, our society is advancing and some of these practices are being left behind.
How is a person who mistreats animals? People who mistreat animals are psychopaths? In the next topic we will make a psychological profile to solve some of these doubts.
Animal aggressor: personality traits
the personality of an aggressor
Many researchers have tried to look for personality traits that are characteristic of this type of person, even knowing that there are different cultures and regions in which animal abuse is normalized, the following common psychological characteristics were found:
- Aggressiveness: an aggressive person has a natural tendency to respond with violence to the stimuli that surround him, in this case, if the person feels anger or frustration towards an animal, he will not think twice before reacting aggressively.
- Impulsiveness: being impulsive means not thinking twice before reacting, this implies releasing anger without reflecting on the consequences, it doesn't matter whether or not you hurt the other being.
- Little emotional intelligence: a lack of emotional intelligence is one of the most characteristic traits of an animal aggressor. This trait defines the ability of not being able to feel empathy or identify with the emotional state of others. If a person is not capable of being empathetic towards an animal, he will hardly control his actions in order to avoid hurting it.
- Need for power: in many situations, violence is used to maintain a power situation. When an animal does not obey, the aggressor will be violent in order to achieve its objective.
- Selfishness: when a person thinks only of his own benefit, he may engage in acts of cruelty for the mere purpose of getting something. For this reason, an aggressor will have a strong tendency to self-centeredness.
- Challenger: people who have attitudes against the laws and feel some excitement when breaking the rules can develop aggressive behavior, this because they ignore the rules and constantly challenge the well-being of other beings around them.
Are people who mistreat animals psychopaths?
It is possible that the psychological profile of an animal aggressor is linked to some psychological illness. Pathologies severely affect the ability to feel and rationalize, and some personality disorders that induce animal abuse may arise.
A psychopath is a person who has many difficulties in understanding the suffering of others. and if a violent act against another does her some kind of benefit (for example, relieving the stress of a bad day by hitting an animal), she won't think twice about doing it. This is why many psychopaths mistreat animals, however not all animal abusers are psychopaths.
Even knowing that mental disorders can lead to violent acts, mistreatment of animals is a phenomenon influenced by many factors: social, emotional, environmental... For example, if a family teaches a child that, if a dog is disobedient, it is necessary to hit him, when the dog is disobedient to him, the child is likely to hit him, reproducing what he learned from this dog or from other animals with which he has contact.
It is important to be aware of children who mistreat animals or their pets, as this attitude can induce other types of aggressive behavior. While it can be considered a type of "exploitation" or knowing the animal's tolerance limits, it can also reveal an early form of abuse that serves as a signal for future physical aggression. A child who mistreats animals should visit a psychologist, because there may be other factors that are causing this behavior. It is essential to identify them to avoid aggressive behavior that could put the animals' lives at risk.
What happens to people who mistreat animals?
If you have detected any situation of mistreatment of animals, the first thing to do is to protect the animal to avoid further consequences. You can report the mistreatment of the animal to the authorities or ask the aggressor to protect the animal for you or for third parties. Once this is protected, it is necessary to start an intervention aimed at the aggressor, for that, the first step is to legally report the situation so that a team of professionals can regulate the situation.
This type of actions or interventions will be based on re-educating the violent person and controlling the behavior of violence and aggression. We can approach the mistreatment of animals in two ways:
- Punishment: be it a fine or a stay in prison, a punishment for a situation should be the clearest option. In fact, there are laws that punish mistreatment of animals.
- Psychological strategy: once the individual has been punished, the re-education process can begin to prevent him from harming an animal again. This strategy is based on developing empathy and ways to channel anger.
Mistreatment of animals: SAY NO!
As mentioned throughout this article, the mistreatment of animals is everyone's responsibility. This means that there is not just a psychological component that determines violent actions. We can all prevent and avoid, to some extent, the mistreatment of animals.
If you are thinking of changing something, you should publicly denounce aggression situations, avoid participating in events that exploit animals and learn a little about how to properly treat all animals.
