According to the report of the summit, abusive behavior toward animals may be an indicator of other forms of violence within the family. In addition, a child who is subjected to physical abuse may in turn abuse animals. Young children who learn aggression against other living creatures are more likely to show the same sort of aggressive behavior against other people as an adult. Also, the summit report indicates that aggression among the adult criminal population may have a strong correlation with a familial history of abuse and childhood cruelty toward animals. Society's goals in addressing this problem should be to prevent the onset of violent behavior with educational and experimental programs that promote nurturing and empathy in children; to identify the manifestation of violence at the earliest possible age, so that treatment may be initiated; and to support intervention programs that reduce acts of violence in an individual and motivate positive behavior patterns. Such goals can be achieved by research to establish the relationship between violent acts toward all categories of vulnerable populations, identifying early signs of violent behavior in individuals, and evaluating the effectiveness of prevention and treatment programs. 58 research review references