Relationship Of Hunting And Illegal Violence

This study tests the links between hunting and other deviant behaviors based on a survey of college students. The survey addressed participants’ history of hunting, other animal abuse, and engaging in deviant behaviors such as vandalism.

Article Abstract:

“This study examined the relationship between hunting and illegal violence among college males. Although similar on many sociodemographic characteristics such as age and social class (parents’ education and occupation), hunters were more likely than non- hunters to be white and Protestant. They also were more likely to have grown up with a family member who hunted. Hunters were about twice as likely to have been violent toward nonhuman animals; however, one type of violence—killing wild or stray animals—accounted for this difference. Regarding violence toward people, hunters were more than twice as likely to have damaged or destroyed private or public property during their last year in high school but were no more likely during that year to have fought with other persons. Thus, at least for this sample, hunting related to harming animals in the wild and to property damage but not to other forms of animal abuse or violence against humans. This paper discusses possible explanations for this result and limitations of the study.”