NCJ Number
129569
Journal
Social Service Review Dated: (September 1990) Pages: 407-421
Date Published
1990
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Because of the high percentage of children in the United States living with only one parent, incidents of parental kidnapping can potentially affect millions of children. Although professional knowledge about the prevalence, characteristics, and effects of parental kidnapping is not extensive, preliminary research indicates that the experience can traumatize children in many ways.
Abstract
There have been several policy responses over the past few years to parental child snatching. The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction act was approved in 1968 as a model statute to be considered by State legislatures in order to clarify jurisdictional issues in interstate custody disputes. The Federal 1980 Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act represented a stronger approach to the problem. Other criminal and civil remedies for parental abduction have been instigated, but neither necessarily results in the return of the child to the custodial parent. In international law, the Hague Convention and the International Child Abduction Remedies Act of 1988 seek to avoid relitigation and to return the child to the country of origin. The author concludes, through an analysis of the effectiveness, equity, and equality of these laws, that children are still unrepresented by counsel in most custody cases and that one answer to the problem may lie in divorce mediation. Some social workers believe that divorce mediation may be able to change how parents act regarding child snatching by helping them focus on their children's needs and reach mutual decisions. 23 notes (Author abstract modified)