ABSTRACT

In this study, I borrow from Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model to examine motivations to report animal crime. I argue that such motivations are related to individual traits, early socialization, and attitudes toward animals, as well as the neighborhood context of social control. Using survey data from 494 respondents, I analyze the effects of demographic and personality characteristics, attitudinal variables, and neighborhood informal social control on one’s own reporting of animal crime, as well as their perceptions that neighbors would report such crime. Results indicated that individuals are more likely to report animal crime if they have previously witnessed animal abuse, possess attitudes that promote animal violence as just as significant as human violence, and support punitive measures for animal abusers. Neighborhood informal social control exerted a negative effect on animal crime reporting, so respondents who live in neighborhoods higher in informal social control are less likely to report animal crime. But neighborhood informal social control had a positive effect on perceptions of neighbor’s reporting of animal crime. Implications for theory, future research, practice, and policy are discussed.

摘要

在这项研究中，我借鉴了 Bronfenbrenner 的生态模型来检查报告动物犯罪的动机。我认为这种动机与个体特征、早期社会化、对动物的态度以及社会控制的邻里环境有关。使用来自 494 名受访者的调查数据，我分析了人口和性格特征、态度变量和邻里非正式社会控制对自己报告动物犯罪的影响，以及他们对邻居会报告此类犯罪的看法。结果表明，如果个人以前目睹过动物虐待，拥有与人类暴力同样重要的促进动物暴力的态度，并支持对动物虐待者采取惩罚措施，则他们更有可能举报动物犯罪。社区非正式社会控制对动物犯罪报告产生负面影响，因此居住在非正式社会控制较高社区的受访者不太可能报告动物犯罪。但邻里非正式社会控制对邻居报告动物犯罪的看法有积极影响。讨论了对理论、未来研究、实践和政策的影响。