NCJ Number
129433
Journal
Child Welfare Volume: 63 Issue: 6 Dated: (November-December 1984) Pages: 511-519
Date Published
1984
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Interviews with five victims of parental abduction who were recovered in California and with their custodial parents formed the basis of an analysis of the psychological impacts of parental abduction.
Abstract
The children included three females and two males, four of whom were white and one of whom was Mexican-American. They ranged in age from 6 to 11 years. They had been missing from 6 weeks to 3.5 years and were interviewed between 4 and 16 months following their recovery. Every custodial parent reported observing some degree of emotional or social trauma in the children. The severity of the harm seemed to be affected by the child's age at the time of abduction, the type of treatment received from the offender, the length of time under the offender's control, and the support and therapy provided on recovery. The trauma was unusually detrimental for young victims, who had no recollection of the custodial parent. Older children tended to show resentment toward both parents, feeling contempt for the offender and resentment toward the custodial parent for not rescuing them more rapidly. Case narratives and 20 references