More than half of over 300 inmates at Her Majesty’s Prisons who participated in a recent College of The Bahamas study on violence indicated that they had intentionally harmed animals while growing up.
Of the 170 (53 percent) who said they had harmed animals, 60 percent said that they had enjoyed these acts.
Further, 32.3 percent of those who harmed animals said they did it “often or always”.
The study found that inmates who had been abused were at higher risk of having harmed animals than inmates who had not been abused.
The study says dogs were the most likely animals to be harmed, followed by cats, birds and other animals like lizards, frogs and snakes. A small number of inmates said they harmed farm animals and wild animals.
The study is titled “Violence in the life of an inmate prior to conviction and its association with crimes against persons”.
Its principal researcher is William Fielding, director of COB’s Office of Planning.
Fielding wrote that violence is a pervasive part of life in The Bahamas. He noted that in some instances, violent behaviors are handed down from one generation to the next.
“While this is demonstrated graphically by the ever increasing number of murders and confiscated firearms and ammunition, less well recorded violence occurs, for example, domestic violence, physical abuse of children and rape,” the study says.
Researchers also say criminality may be a way of life for some Bahamian families and as such Social Services officials may need to pay particular attention to such households so that criminality is not regarded as a way of life.
