Approximately 203,900 children fell victim to family abduction in 1999; 44% of these children were younger than 6 years old, and 78% were abducted by a biological parent.¹ Harmed by life on the run, abducted children are faced with emotional and sometimes physical harm.

Prior to abduction, many of these children are exposed to abusive and neglectful behaviors in their homes, and many witness high levels of conflict between their parents.² Abduction can also be devastating to the custodial (or "left-behind") parent who frequently faces emotional and financial distress.

Given the frequency and implications of parental abductions, prevention is warranted.  Nurse practitioners can aid in prevention by understanding the scope of the problem, by assessing families for risk factors and abductor profiles and by teaching custodial parents ways to keep their children safe.

Scope of Parental Abductions
According to the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Throwaway Children (NISMART), family abduction is defined as the taking or keeping of a child by a family member in violation of a custody order, a decree or other legitimate custodial rights, where the taking or keeping involved some element of concealment, flight or intent to deprive a lawful custodian indefinitely of custodial privileges.¹

Abductors may be any family member or agent (a boyfriend, girl friend, private investigator), but most cases involve the child's parent.³ Custody laws vary from state to state; however, abducting one's own child is a crime in all fifty states and the District of Columbia, usually constituting a felony offense. Some states require violation of a custody order to consider parental abduction a crime, while others do not. ³

Boys and girls are equally likely to experience family abduction. Although children of any age can be victims, younger children - particularly those between the ages of 3 and 5 years - appear to be particularly vulnerable. Infants and adolescents are the least likely to be taken. Older teens (ages 15 to 17) account for a small proportion of family abduction victims, possibly reflecting the relative independence of teenagers, which makes it more difficult for parents to control where they go and stay.

The ethnic or racial distribution of parental abduction corresponds to the distribution of children in the general population and thus indicates that family abductions do not occur disproportionately in any one racial or ethnic group.

Most children were in their own or someone else's yard just prior to abduction.  Relatively few are abducted from school or day care.¹

Family abductions are much more likely to occur in families where children were not living with both parents - the circumstance that gives rise to motives for family abduction. Motives include revenge against the custodial parent, an effort to reconcile with the custodial parent and fear of losing legal custody or visitation rights. Parents may also abduct their children if they believe that the other parent is neglecting, abusing or molesting their children, and this perception may be reality. Extreme cases may result from the abductor's delusional system, personality disorder or blatant disregard for the law.⁴

Risk Factors and Abductor Profiles
NPs can use their psychosocial history skills to assess whether a child is at risk for parental abduction. The presence of risk factors or abductor characteristics and profiles warrants monitoring, preventive teaching and possible intervention.

In a study designed to identify risk factors for abduction, researchers found that many abductors shared similar characteristics, such as low socioeconomic status, unemployment, relative youth (typically never married), having young children and having a prior arrest record. A combination of these factors was found to increase the risk of parental abduction.⁵

Other researchers used NISMART data to identify risk factors, and they found an increased risk for white children, children under 5 and children in violent households.⁶

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention identified specific characteristics of abducting parents:⁷

• Abductors deny or dismiss the other parent's value to the child. They believe that they know what's best for the child and cannot see how or why they should share parenting with the other parent.
• Abductors most likely have very young children. Young children are easier to conceal and transport and are unlikely to verbally protest. They may also be unable to tell others identifying information. When older children are abducted by noncustodial parents, they usually are vulnerable or in collusion with the abductor.
• Abductors (unless paranoid delusional) have a support network that provides practical (food, shelter, money) and emotional assistance with the abduction.
• Abductors do not consider their actions illegal or morally wrong, even after the legal system is involved.
• Both mothers and fathers are equally likely to abduct their children - fathers when there is no child custody order in place and mothers after the courts have issued a formal custody decree.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention also identified six abductor profiles, listed below. ⁷ A parent's resemblance to one or more of these profiles does not mean that abduction is inevitable, nor does lack of resemblance mean that abduction is not possible. Instead, the profiles provide assessment information that, along with the facts of a given case, may indicate that preventive measures are necessary.

• Profile 1: The parent who has committed a prior credible threat or abduction.    This profile is usually combined with one or more of the others, and it is important to understand why the parent abducted the child. Other risk factors for flight include a parent who is homeless, unemployed and without ties to the area; who has divulged plans to abduct and has the resources to do so; and who has liquidated assets and maxed out credit cards or borrowed from other sources.
  
• Profile 2: The parent who suspects or believes that abuse has occurred. Many parents abduct their children because they truly believe that the other parent is abusing, molesting or neglecting their child. They believe that legal authorities have not taken their allegations seriously and have not properly investigated their concerns. These parents "rescue" the child with help from supporters who concur with their beliefs, including underground networks that help them obtain new identities and safe locations.