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Examining Child Abduction by Offender Type Patterns

NCJ Number
224353
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 25 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2008 Pages: 523-543
Author(s)
J. Mitchell Miller; Megan Kurlycheck; J. Andrew Hansen; Kristine Wilson
Date Published
September 2008
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This work examines the characteristics associated with child abduction cases.
Abstract
This work articulated descriptive and multivariate analyses that identified differences between stereotypical and actual abductions; distinct abduction types; offender/victim characteristics; and abduction environment contexts. The results include information depicted by age, sex, race, location, time, and use of a weapon. It is noted that few crime topics elicit as much fear and concern as child abduction, evident, in part, by the 2006 Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act that provides courts with guidelines to identify children at risk and supporting intervention options. Further confusion necessitating this work has been furthered by media hype and sensationalism which have, in the absence of reliable offense-specific statistics, fueled both popular culture and sociolegal constructions of offender and victim stereotypes, most notably the stranger-pedophile abductor. The work also sought to orient discussion around the responsiveness of recent policy initiatives and call attention to the need for further inquiry utilizing more comprehensive abduction data. Data were derived from an examination of original State police case files of all abductions, 671, that occurred in South Carolina between 1991 and 1996. Figures, tables, and references

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