Full Description
In 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice reported an average of 200,000 cases of parental kidnapping each year. More than just the byproduct of a nasty custody dispute, parental kidnapping--defined as one parent taking his or her child and denying access of the child to the other parent--represents a form of child abuse that has sometimes resulted in the sale, abandonment and even death of children. This candid exploration of parental kidnapping in America from the eighteenth century to the present clarifies many misconceptions and reveals how the external influences of American social, political, legal, and religious culture can exacerbate family conflict, creating a social atmosphere ripe for abduction.
Contents
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
1. Parental Abduction: A Timeless Tradition
2. The Progressive Era and the Family
3. Culture, Blood and Borders
4. The Military, War, and Parental Kidnapping
5. Religion: Motivation for Abduction
6. Heroes and Outlaws
7. Nationalism and The Hague
8. Domestic Violence, Child Abuse, and Alienation
9. Law Enforcement and Parental Kidnapping
10. Reunification
11. Prevention
12. Politics of Abduction
13. Evolution of an Epidemic
Appendix: Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act
Bibliography
Index
