NCJ Number
79093
Date Published
1980
Length
51 pages
Annotation
Current research on parental kidnapping is reviewed, and research approaches which can be used to investigate the key issues in the study of parental kidnapping are described.
Abstract
Despite a lack of scholarly research, official statistics, or attempts to estimate the extent of the problem of child abduction by one parent, there are some commonly accepted 'facts' frequently cited by those familiar with the problem of child abduction. It is estimated that there are between 25,000 to 100,000 children abducted by a parent each year; that 60 to 70 percent of abductions occur before a custody decree is issued; that the frequency of child abduction is increasing. Men are typically the abductors, and the children are usually taken from their mothers. Less than 10 percent of the children abducted are found and abducted children suffer from severe and long-lasting emotional and psychological consequences. While surveys of the incidence, the nature, and the pattern of officially reported cases of parental kidnapping are significant subjects for empirical research, it would be a tragic error if such research were to overshadow other important research issues, as tended to happen with research on child abuse and neglect. The critical issues that should be addressed by research are descriptive and exploratory research, motivations of kidnappers, causes of parental kidnapping, and consequences for the child. Some of the lessons learned from the decade of research on abuse and violence are not to become overdependent on officially designated cases for subjects, to avoid the fallacy of false time priority, and to use comparison groups. Three footnotes and 60 references are listed.