Varieties of nonfamily abduction of children and adolescents
Date
1995
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Volume Title
Publisher
Criminal Justice & Behavior
Abstract
Description
Examined 396 cases of nonfamily abduction of children and adolescents, using police records in a national survey of law enforcement agencies, to distinguish between stereotypical (n = 32) and legal-definition abduction cases (n = 364). Incidents that fit the public stereotype of a kidnapping were much less prevalent than incidents that simply met legal definitions for abduction. Stereotypical abductions tended to involve more White preteen victims who were taken but not sexually assaulted. The majority of legal-definition abductions was characterized by the forcible sexual assault of teenage girls. Legal-definition abductions that did not involve sexual assault occurred in the context of a diverse range of other crimes, including robbery attempts, hijackings, intimidation, and dating violence. Findings highlight the need to orient efforts aimed at the prevention of nonfamily abduction toward those at risk for sexual assault.
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Keywords
Best Practices-Prevention, Best Practices-Research, Child welfare, Child welfare -- statistics, Perpetrators, Prevention, legal