The Missing Link (Hunting And Child Abuse Are Correlated)
This article summarizes an Animal People study that examines the cultural relationship between rates of hunting participation and crimes against children in New York, Ohio, and Michigan, finding that “hunting and child abuse reflect the degree to which dominionism prevails in a particular community.”
In 21 of 22 similar New York counties, those with the most hunters also had the most prosecutions for sexual abuse of children. In Ohio counties with more than the median rate of hunting licenses, there were 51% more reports of child abuse. Similarly, in Michigan, children were three times more likely to be neglected and twice as likely to be physically abused or sexually assaulted if they lived in a county with above average hunting participation.
In a prior 1980 study by Stephen Kellert for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, “dominionism” was defined as an attitude where “primary satisfactions [are] derived from mastery or control over animals.” This study showed that the degree of dominionism in the American public was 2.0 on a scale of 18; humane group members rated 0.9, recreational hunters rated from 3.8 to 4.1 and trappers rated 8.5.