Child/Pet Maltreatment: Adolescents' Ratings of Parent and Owner Behaviors.

This study investigated adolescents' ratings of various forms of child and pet maltreatment. Participants (N = 614) rated the seriousness of 20 vignettes (10 focusing on abuse; 10 focusing on neglect) on the potential harm each had to a child's or pet's welfare. Two instruments were administered. Half the adolescents completed the child maltreatment instrument first, while the rest completed the pet maltreatment instrument. Six weeks later all participants were administered the alternative instrument. Surveys were identical except that in one the victim was a three-year-old child and in the other it was a one-year-old pet dog. Results indicated adolescents were: highly critical of parental and owner acts which constitute maltreatment, more disapproving of abusive than neglectful acts, less tolerant of inappropriate actions directed toward a child than toward a pet, and more tolerant of the use of physical force toward a child if they had at some time been the person primarily responsible for the care of a pet. Language: en