Welcome back to “The TAB,” a publication that curates relevant-right-now developments in behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM) that I think are most worth your attention. Thanks for being a reader, and if you find it helpful, please consider sharing with your networks.
Every other week, a new issue of the TAB will arrive with operationally useful updates for professionals in BTAM. Every issue is researched, written, and edited by me. No AI-generated articles and no recycled summaries—just my assessment of what matters and why. And it’s free to subscribe.
Spotlight Read: Zoosadists and human violence: what we know and how it affects BTAM
There is very little research on zoosadism—sexual gratification in the suffering of animals. But we do know a few things, including that there is a link to violence toward human victims, both children and adults.
There are online homes for these individuals, where they find support, community, and inspiration.
A previously existing model of individual, family, and developmental contributors to childhood sexual behavior problems may be applicable to children who engage in sexual contact with animals. This matters because early prevention is the name of the game, IMO.
The model incorporates the domains behavioral problems, parental stressors, coercive parenting practices, disruptions in psychosexual development, and insecure parent-child attachment. Adverse experiences in these areas could be very relevant and highlight the importance of early interventions and quality attachments.
The exact nature of the link between sexual abuse of animals and abuse of humans is not well-understood, but the existence of some relational patterns has been identified.
When animal sexual abuse is identified, the human-victim inquiry should include both directions: could this child be experiencing abuse, and could someone else be at risk from the child’s behavior?
I’m sorry to say I recently worked on a case involving online sharing of IRL (in-real-life) sexualized torture of animals. It was pretty dark, I won’t lie. These animals are as defenseless as children. They suffer, and some are deliberately killed or die from the abuse. No need for details, but I grew professionally because I had to dig into the research data.
At the end of the day, I found myself trying to answer two main BTAM-related questions: [1] What do we know about the earlier years of someone who eventually engages in this behavior? [2] What do we know about the connection between sexual violence against animals and violence against people? I orient toward the first question because treatment research is limited, particularly for zoophilia and zoosadism, and eliminating a sexual interest is a different goal from preventing violence. So, prevention strikes me as the name of the game. The second question is a no-brainer in terms of prioritizing things we want to understand (though, for clarity, the animal torture alone is more than enough to animate me as a professional).
As it turned out, answering those questions is easier said than done, but I offer what I found useful below the fold. But first, some definitions: A paraphilia is generally defined as an intense, persistent and atypical pattern of sexual arousal or interest. Zoophilia is a paraphilia focused on animals. Sexual sadism is sexual arousal derived from the physical or psychological suffering of another. Zoosadism is sexual sadism focused on animals.
Rethinking the power of grievance
In BTAM, we talk a lot about grievance. Very generally, we think of it as a deeply-held sense of having been wronged. After surveying threat assessment experts on the topic, Hintz et al. (2026) define it as (1) a perceived personal harm, unfairness, or conflict which results in (2) dissatisfaction or anger toward a specific individual, institution, or group that has (3) the potential for to motivate behavior. Grievance was first labeled as such and placed on the Pathway to Violence by Calhoun and Weston. In describing personal grievance, Meloy identifies its substantial components as loss, humiliation, anger, and blame—usually in that order. All of this isn’t just semantics. Understanding these concepts helps us understand if we’re truly looking at a grievance of the intensity that could potentially inspire targeted violence, or at least set in motion a pattern of frightening pursuit, or if it is something lesser. The same apparent set of circumstances can result in a grievance for one person and a big fat “no big deal” for someone else.
A cool article by Cotton and Scalora just came out looking at the persistence of grievance-driven activity over time. I’m excited about this because it’s not uncommon for a target or law enforcement to gradually become desensitized to grievance expressions that go on for a long with no violence. The data from this study justify looking at things a bit differently. (That said, the need to examine persistence is recognized and addressed in the context of stalking, by the authors of the Stalking Risk Profile (SRP) risk assessment instrument; the SRP includes a “persistence” assessment.)
In this survey-based study, 337 adults were studied who had a specific grievance and took at least one action to achieve some kind of reparation, atonement, or retribution. Cotton and Scalora found that aggrieved persons who undertook more severe behaviors also tended to have been more persistent in nurturing their grievance, suggesting an overlap between persistence and behavioral severity. The authors suggest watching a lengthy persistence continuum for sustained behaviors that keep the focus on a target while also increasing familiarity, confidence, or perceived justification to keep going (as we already do in stalking cases). In other words, grievance may be best assessed not simply on a present/not present basis, but as a dynamic and ongoing expression of preoccupation and investment.
Engaging with violent content or associates were the most strongly associated with persistence; the authors opined that that BTAM professionals should mind not only the grievance itself but also if person of concern is immersed in a violence-supportive environment. Findings also indicated that when preoccupation with a grievance corresponds with attempts to monitor, contact or approach a target, this is relevant to an assessment, as well. The data don’t suggest that emotional upset alone is enough to identify persistence. Instead, it’s when emotional upset appears alongside fixation, violence-supportive beliefs or social sphere, and repeated engagement with the target. Persistent lower-severity stuff like repeated contact or monitoring, could co-occur with increasing approach behavior and, thus, the potential for harm.
SIGNALS—What I’m watching in BTAM
Florida recently became the first state to pass a law requiring K-12 schools to send any threat assessment records onward to a student of concern’s higher educational institution, if it is within the Florida College System. HB757 was signed into law in 2026.
The Institute for Strategic Dialogue has published a handy field guide, “Spotting the Signs: Recognizing and Responding to Subcultures of Nihilistic Violence. Nihilism is “the rejection of all religious, moral and social values, often accompanied by a belief that life is meaningless.” Check it out here. ISD does exceptional work.
As I type this, I’m at the Canadian Association of Threat Assessment Professonals’ (CATAP) annual conference at Whistler, BC. The next major BTAM Conference will be the (U.S.) Association of Threat Assessment Professionals’ (ATAP) Winter Conference at Walt Disney World, February 2-5, 2027. (How is it almost 2027 already!)
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That’s all for now. Thanks for working in this space and stay safe!
