The Animal Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan will present a special program during the Bar's 65th Annual Meeting entitled "Beyond Violence: The Connection Between Violence and Animal Abuse." Mary Lou Randour, Ph.D., Director of "Beyond Violence: The Human-Animal Connection," a joint project of the Doris Day Animal Foundation and Psychologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, will serve as keynote speaker. The program will be held on Thursday, September 21, 2000 at 9:30 a.m. at the Cobo Center in Downtown Detroit.

Dr. Randour will address a serious societal problem: the connection between human violence and animal abuse. Research indicates that both family and criminal violence are associated with animal abuse.

"Animal abuse does not occur in isolation," said Dr. Randour. "It takes place in a complex net of disturbed family relations. Animal abuse is often associated with domestic violence (spouse abuse) and violence against children. At the same time, children from disturbed families are more likely than other children to commit animal abuse themselves and children who commit animal abuse are more likely than others to engage in criminal violence as adults." She adds that many of the notorious 1999 "school shooters," for example, reported abusing animals before they acted out against their classmates.

Dr. Randour received her doctorate in human development from the University of Maryland in 1978; she also holds a master of education degree from the same institution. A private psychologist-psychoanalyst in Maryland since 1984, she has served on the faculty of the Washington Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology and the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

Dr. Randour also has a special interest in women's issues. She held a National Institute of Mental Health postdoctoral fellowship at the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, and was part of the White House Interdepartmental Task Force on Women in 1979. She is currently a member of the Family Violence Advisory Committee of Montgomery County, Maryland.

In 1999, Dr. Randour co-authored The AniCare Model of Treatment for Animal Abuse, a joint publication of Psychologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Doris Day Animal Foundation. Her other publications include Animal Grace: Entering a Spiritual Relationship with our Fellow Creatures (New World Library, 2000); Exploring Sacred Landscapes (Columbia University Press, 1993) (editor); and Women's Psyche, Women's Spirit: The Reality of Relationships (Columbia University Press, 1987), as well as numerous articles and professional presentations.

For further information, contact Wanda A. Nash (616) 789-1340 or Barbara H. Goldman (248) 213-3800.