Roshni Ladny’s research takes a psychosocial approach to examining the role of trauma in the victim-offender overlap as it pertains to the development of violent and aggressive behavior in children exposed to animal cruelty and family violence. Her other interests include identification of protective factors against childhood adverse experiences, effective methods of offender rehabilitation, and mental health care in the criminal justice system. Ladny is also a certified domestic violence victim advocate in Florida and has clinical training in addiction counseling as well as trauma and crisis intervention. Prior to earning her doctorate from Florida State University, she served as a clinical mental health therapist for survivors and perpetrators of family violence, youth involved in the juvenile justice system, and individuals court ordered to treatment for substance abuse.

Ladny is also passionate about giving back to her community and spent six years as a volunteer Community Outreach Coordinator with a rural north Florida humane society where she extensively assisted in addressing animal cruelty and neglect through animal rescue, partnership with the local sheriff’s office, and humane education for children. She is also a long-time dedicated volunteer researcher and advocate to the international organization The European Link Coalition (ELC). ELC is an all volunteer group of researchers, practitioners and legal experts dedicated to developing evidence-based policy and programming on global animal and child welfare as they relate to the links between societal violence, family violence, and animal cruelty.

In response to ELC's extensive and years long advocacy and research efforts, General Comment 26 adopted in May 2023 by United Nations (UN) Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), now includes first-time legal language identifying animal cruelty exposure as a child rights violation. This is the first time violence against animals and childhood exposure to animal cruelty have been addressed from a legal perspective in a binding human rights charter and in one that has been ratified by almost 200 countries. Using research from ELC, the UN CRC acknowledges in GC 26 the detrimental effects to children who are exposed to societal violence against animals, as well as the importance of viewing childhood exposure to animal cruelty and resulting psychological trauma as a human rights issue. For more information on this initiative and future related policy and programming, please visit: https://www.europeanlinkcoalition.com/newtomorrows and https://www.europeanlinkcoalition.com/the-implications.