Parental Child Abduction: A Literature Review
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X0207500306 |
| Date | 01 November 2002 |
| Published date | 01 November 2002 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
DR L.F. LOWENSTEIN
Psychologist, Director
of
Allington Manor Psychological
Services, Southern England
PARENTAL CHILD ABDUCTION:
ALITERATURE REVIEW
This study undertakes the difficult task of isolating the various
aspects of dealing with parents who abduct a child or children.
The first section will deal very briefly with differences between
parents and strangers who abduct children; the second with the
causes and associated features of parent abductions. This is
followed by the reaction of the child to such an abduction in
the short and long term. The characteristics of parents who
abduct are considered next, followed by risk assessments of
parents who are likely to commit an abduction. The final
section deals with the prevention of abductions and the treat-
ment of children who have been abducted.
Introduction
The self-esteem of parents whose children have been abducted
has been studied. Hegar et al. (1993) found from a study of 371
parents who had lost their children to an abductor that such
parent's self-esteem suffered considerably from knowing that
their children have been taken away by the other parent. Greif
and Hegar (1993a) further comment that the number of parents
who abduct their children is increasing. This is partly because of
the European Community and the relaxation of travel barriers
between countries that it affords. Abducted children were noted
to be at risk for a wealth of adjustment-related disorders, to be
discussed later.
Parental abductions are more likely to occur when there is an
inter-racial and/or cross-cultural marriage, as noted by Hegar and
Greif (1994). The 371 parents studied in the earlier survey
revealed an over-representation of inter-racial and cross-cultural
marriages among families involved in family kidnapping. Inter-
racial and inter-ethnic couples made up 12.7% of the sample, but
they only made up 8.4% of the US population as a whole. The
literature concerning marital conflict, particularly over child
rearing and intermarriage, was reviewed.
The police response to parents who abduct children was
studied by Plass et al. (1995). A telephone survey was conducted
with caretakers in 10,367 households who reported on the
234 The Police Journal. Volume 75 (2002)
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