THE UNKNOWN TRAUMA OF CHILD ABDUCTION
By Dr. Stephen Juan

In Australia, it is estimated that over the average week, 3 children are abducted.  The abductor is usually a parent, rarely a stranger.   

However, this figure is only tentative as we have no definite figures for this country.  The estimation of 170 child abductions per year comes from the International Family Law organisation of New York City.  A report by the International Social Service in February 2005 called for the establishment of a national support service.  However, such a report service has yet to be established.

Regardless of the figure, we know little about the overall impact upon the child of this form of abduction.  Does this result in trauma?  Does it retard child development?  If there is trauma to the child, then to what degree and for how long are such trauma’s effects?  Does child abduction lead to personality problems, mental illness, personal and social dysfunction?  We simply do not know.  The topic has rarely been studied.  The trauma to a child by being abducted is unknown.  Ironically, the effect upon the parent(s) of child abduction is more likely to be studied.  For example, a 2006 article in VIOLENCE AND VICTIMS by Dr. S.K. Spilman from the Department of Sociology at the University of Iowa found that mothers responded to the abduction differently than fathers.  This suggests the question, do female abducted children respond differently than males?      

What is known is that parental abductions occur in the aftermath of a failed relationship.  A parent “steals” the child either as a marital or non-marital relationship is breaking-up.  The abduction usually occurs within a few days to a few years afterwards.  Usually, the abducting parent returns the child.  This most often occurs after being contacted by a third party who may or may not be an officer of a court.  It is estimated that only ten per cent of parental abductions last longer than a month. 

In the shorter-term cases, the child resumes normal life after being returned.  It is thought that there is little lasting effect of this upon the child provided that the abducting act was not frightening or otherwise emotionally stressful.  However, in the longer-term cases, both the child and the abductor usually live in hiding.  Sometimes both live in hiding for years.  It is a criminal's life-on-the-run.     

In a 1992 article in the AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Drs. Geoffrey Greif and Rebecca Hegar of the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, attempted to review what little we know about the child development effects of parental abduction.  They conclude that, in fact, we have little research on the matter.  They write that “little is known about how the experience of abduction and later recovery by the searching parent affects children”.  They point out that surprisingly few studies exist.  They further point out that know far much more about, for example, children of divorce than about children of abduction.

But Drs. Greif and Hegar point out that some studies do exist.
In a 1984 study published in CHILD WELFARE, Dr. M.W. Agopian collected data on 91 households and 130 abducted children in Los Angeles County.  It was found that abducted children tended to be abducted singly, that they tended to be white, that male and female children were equally likely to be targets, and that they were most likely to be between three and five years old when taken.  Fathers were the abductors in twice as many cases as mothers.

Dr. Agopian reported that among those children who were returned, children who were abducted for short periods and were well-treated did not have especially traumatic reactions.  However, longer abductions resulted in more traumatic reactions.  Longer abductions had the effect of allowing the child to both establish a firmer bond with the abducting parent and loosen the bond with the searching parent.  The return was then another emotional blow.  Furthermore, these longer abductions were more likely to involve a complete change in the child's way of life.  They were frequently hidden, instructed to lie, isolated from peers, uprooted to new residences, and forced to live in poverty. 

Ironically, Dr. Agopian reported that for older children, upon return, they expressed anger at both parents---one for taking them and the other for not getting them back faster.

In a 1991 study published in the JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY, a team headed by Dr. David Finkelhor of the Department of Sociology at the University of New Hampshire analysed information from 104 households and 142 abducted children throughout the U.S.  This study revealed that most children were not taken very far.  For example, no more than 12 per cent of children were taken interstate.  Furthermore, force was used in 18 per cent of cases and 5 per cent of cases involved the child being physically or sexually abused while “missing”.  Perhaps most importantly, it was found that approximately one in six children were believed to be “seriously” mentally harmed by the abduction, while a further one in three were believed to be mentally harmed to a somewhat lesser extent.  

Findings from these and other studies give us a glimpse of the impact of abduction upon child development.  But Drs. Greif and Hegar warn that studies are too few at this stage for drawing firm conclusions.  They write that “larger samples of children and independent observers are needed to allow for statistical control of the host of variables, outlined in this review, that may influence post-abduction adjustment.  Research is also needed on effective interventions for this population.”

And we are not even sure how big this population is. 

PHOTOS OF ABDUCTED CHILDREN DO NOT AID SEARCHERS

An intriguing recent finding is that people’s ability to recognise abducted children is impaired when they view a photo of the child smiling or is clean.  These are the sorts of photos that are likely to be circulated when the search for an abducted child is underway.  This conclusion was drawn from research by Dr. Vicki Gier of the Department of Psychology at Mississippi State University and published in the October 2008 issue of APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY.

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