The New Yorker February 6th, 2006
Troublemakers: What pit bulls can teach us about profiling
by Malcolm Gladwell
Reviewed by Richard H. Polsky, Ph.D.
Certified applied animal behavorist
This article argues that specificity in the use of profiling criteria, such as found in the specificity used by the city of New York to weed out potential terrorists, would be the most appropriate approach to adopt in dealing with the problem of dangerous pit bulls. In other words, make generalizations and profile potentially dangerous pit bulls with the use of specific criteria rather than broad criteria (e.g. only the breed to which the dog belongs with no consideration given to any other factor). Unfortunately, condemning the entire breed itself is the easiest way out for many municipalities in their attempts to deal with the problem of pit bull maulings.
The author argues that the appropriate approach would be to use a profiling system based on criteria that identifies individual pit bulls likely to attack, and then and only then, use these more specific criteria in pit bull profiling rather than the more general one (such as all pit bulls and all pit-bull like dogs). Factors which need to be used to gain specificity in a profiling system are, for example, a pit bull’s past aggressive history, its gender, reproductive status, how the dog is maintained, and owner responsibility.
Notwithstanding some factual errors made about pit bulls, the message in this article is clear: Pit bulls have to evaluated on their own merit rather than condemning all individuals within the breed.