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When Your Child Comes Home

NCJ Number
152779
Author(s)
C Hatcher; C Barton; L Garrett
Date Published
1992
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This video provides guidelines for police, families of missing children, and mental health and social work professionals in how best to respond to children when they return home after being recovered from a kidnapping.
Abstract
The video dramatizes parental responses and problems as they interact with police personnel and friends immediately before recovery of their child and afterwards as they go to the hospital to see their child for the first time since the kidnapping. Initial scenes show the family sitting around a dining table in their home with another family that also has a missing child. The scene is intended to show that different styles of parental reaction to a kidnapping, as one family responds aggressively and with hope while the other parents are discouraged and expect the worst. During a phone call from the police informing the parents their child has been recovered unharmed, the police officer suggests that the parents bring some of the child's favorite toys or stuffed animals to the hospital so he will feel more comfortable. Before seeing their child at the hospital, the police investigator informs the parents their child is physically unharmed but may have psychological damage; he suggests the parents not question him about the kidnapping but simply welcome him home and express their love for him, while leaving the investigation to the detectives. After the child comes home, parents let him share his experiences at his own pace, and the parents receive guidance from another family whose child was kidnapped a number of years ago. The video concludes by listing the responsibilities of the police as well as mental health and social service professionals in responding to the needs of families and victims in child kidnapping cases.

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