Abduction of children by their parents: A survey of the problem

p ARENTAL abduction, or child-snatching, refers to a child being taken by one parent from the other without permission or legal sanction (Cohen, 1989). Abductions most often occur after a marital breakup, either before or after a custody order has been entered. Such abductions imply that one parent's access to the child has been cut off without explicit legal mandate. Usually that parent does not know the child's whereabouts (Agopian, 1980; Gelles, 1984). When parental abduction occurs, families already strained by a recent or impending marital dissolution are ripped apart and their members are put at emo-tional risk. For the parent from whom the child is abducted, feelings of rage, loss, helplessness, and anxiety are com-mon. For the parent who abducts the child, the abduction may seem justified to right a perceived wrong or to re-capture the affections of the other parent. For the child who is abducted, life may entail moving from one house to the next, avoiding close ties with anyone, and hearing distortions about the other parent. Parental abduction appears to be a fairly common occurrence, although estimates of the number of cases vary widely (Agopian, 1984; Gelles, 1984). A recent study sponsored by the Justice Department estimated that each year 350,000 children are abducted by parents (Finkelhor, Hotaling, & Sedlak, 1990). Given the high rate of divorce and, in the past decade, the precipitous increase in the number of children liv-ing with one parent (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1988), disrupted mar-riages will continue to involve child custody contests, some of which will culminate in abduction. Parental abductions most often take place within the context of marital conflict and disruption. Among the motives for parental abductions noted in the criminal justice and popular litera