Bestiality in Forensically Committed Sexual Offenders: A Case Series

Measurement and Correlates of Zoophilic Interest in an Online Community Sample

Sexual interest in animals (zoophilia) is a scant investigated topic owing partially to difficulties in assessing the behavior outside of a clinical setting. While there have been previous attempts to categorize individuals with a sexual interest in animals into classification systems, this requires extensive clinical interviews and psychometric testing. Previous classifications also lack clarity on the adjacent concept of furryism (i.e., interest in anthropomorphized animals) and how it may be related to zoophilia. As there are currently no validated psychometric measures of zoophilia, individuals with a sexual interest in animals are a challenging population to research and may be underdetected in clinical settings. The central aim of the present study was to examine the measurement and correlates of sexual attraction to nonhuman animals through the development and refinement of psychometric and visual stimulus measures of animal sexual interest. Participants included 1,228 respondents (72% zoophilic and 35% furries; 67% men and 22.9% women) recruited from the online community. The results indicated that a Sexual Interest in Animals-Self-Report (SIA-SR) scale had four distinct subscales with excellent discrimination for self-reported zoophilia. Moreover, endorsement of sexual interest in horses and dogs from visual stimuli was most common among the individuals in the sample, while dog and horse sexual and romantic attractiveness ratings also had the largest and most consistent associations with SIA-SR scores and self-reported zoophilia. The results contribute to a greater understanding of the sexual interest patterns for persons with zoophilia and have implications for theory, future research, and clinical practice.

Review of cases, case series and prevalence studies of zoophilia in the general population

BACKGROUND

Information about the frequency of zoophilic behaviour in the general population is scarce.

OBJECTIVE

To review cases, case series and prevalence studies of zoophilia in adults in the general population.

METHODS

A review of publications was carried out in MEDLINE via PubMed, Scopus and the Biblioteca Virtual en Salud [Virtual Health Library] ranging from January 2000 to December 2017.

RESULTS

Thirteen papers were reviewed (ten case reports, two case series and one cross-sectional study). Twelve patients were described, the case series totalled 1,556 people and the cross-sectional study included 1,015 participants and reported a prevalence of zoophilic behaviour of 2%.

CONCLUSIONS

Information on the prevalence of zoophilic behaviour in the general population is limited. The Internet will probably be a valuable tool for further investigating these behaviours in coming years.

Development of zoophilic interests and behaviors in the example of an adolescent male

BACKGROUND

In the research literature the phenomenon of bestiality is considered as a form of animal abuse or as an expression of love and affection toward animals or even as another sexual orientation.

PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE

The article elucidates the mechanisms of development and maintenance of paraphilia in an 18-year-old single male. Psychological evaluation was conducted with both clinical and psychometric measures. The patient's course of psychosexual development is characterized by two perspectives - his own and that of his mother.

RESULTS

At the time of the assessment, the subject's primary sexual outlet was masturbation and zoophilic sexual contact with sheep. The deviation developed over ten years prior to the exposure of the patient's zoophilic interests. The diagnostic process indicated that the subject suffers from significant psychopathology. Following the assessment, the patient was diagnosed with another disorder of sexual preference (F65.8) based on the ICD-10 criteria. The mechanisms of development and maintenance of his paraphilia are discussed with regard to other research.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients who have sex with animals, or who fantasize about doing so, often struggle with negative reactions from their therapists (including a lack of knowledge, laughter, and pressure) when they decide to disclose their experiences. The article may be useful to clinicians who encounter this problem in their practice as an example of the functional capturing of this phenomenon.

The relations among animal abuse, psychological disorders, and crime: Implications for forensic assessment

The confluence of developments in the assessment of animal abuse, the evolution of psychiatric nosology for the diagnosis of conduct disorder, legislative changes involving crimes against non-human animals, and the recent inclusion of crimes against animals in the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System, highlights the critical need for examining the forensic dimensions of animal abuse cases. We provide an overview of the research literature on these topics in the hope that forensic evaluators will have an evidence-based framework for assessing cases they encounter that include perpetration of violence against animals.

Bestiality: An introduction for legal and mental health professionals

Bestiality, or human-animal intercourse, has been a concern of the legal and mental health communities for many years. Ancient legal codes delineated punishments for those who engaged in the behavior, denoting a moral and general societal concern surrounding bestiality dating to ancient times. Despite this longstanding interest in and legal efforts to punish humans for having sex with animals, there has been little research on the behavior. Current available research has largely been siloed based on the populations studied, making it difficult to render any firm conclusions about bestiality's prevalence, frequency, and the risk posed by those who have sex with animals. It is important for clinicians to know the legal status of the behavior in their jurisdictions, to understand possible medical and psychiatric complications and comorbidities, and to know how to evaluate and treat individuals who engage in bestiality or have the related diagnosis of zoophilic disorder. This article provides an overview of the terminology and research pertaining to bestiality, summarizes legal and ethical considerations, and describes clinically relevant information for the evaluation and management of individuals engaged in sex with animals.

Eternally Vulnerable: The Pathology of Abuse in Domestic Animals

Animals are amongst the most vulnerable of all sentient beings. Animal neglect and abuse may involve a single animal and one person, or hundreds of animals and many people. Animals and people are victims of the same types of fatal injury and severe neglect; however, the anatomy and physiology of different animal species and even breeds of animals are a unique challenge for veterinary pathologists. Identifying and describing external lesions of blunt force trauma and projectile wounds requires that the entire skin be reflected from the animal because fur and feathers partially or totally mask the injuries. Because quadrupeds or birds may react differently to the same traumatic force applied to bipedal humans, extrapolating from medical forensic pathology must be done with caution. Animal abuse, however, does not occur in a vacuum. An established link exists between animal abuse, interpersonal violence, and other serious crimes. Using examples, this paper describes specific injuries in abused and neglected animals in the context of domestic violence, interpersonal violence, mental illness, and drug addiction. Medical examiners should be aware that animal abuse affects not only the animal, but individuals, families, and society as a whole.