September 19, 2002

Don’t Let Your Children Become Statistics

Kidnapping is a horrible crime for a child and their family to experience. Recent cases and media exposure is making parents, family members, and friends uneasy about the idea of losing their child to abduction.

In a recent publication by the Department of Justice, it used 1997 data which shows that less than two percent of reported violent crimes against children and youth involve kidnapping. In the report, the Justice Department reported three different kinds of kidnapping: family, acquaintance and stranger.

Findings showed that 49 percent of most kidnappings fall under the family kidnapping category. In many of these cases, parents involved in custody disputes are more susceptible to committing this act. The report also showed that females are more likely to be the perpetrators and that children who are victims of this crime are often under the age of six.

In the acquaintance kidnapping category, the perpetrator knows the victim. In this type of kidnapping, males are likely to be the perpetrators with females being the victims. Twenty-seven percent of reported cases fall into this category involving youth between the ages of 12 and 17. With this category of kidnapping, additional crimes such as sex offenses occur.

Stranger kidnapping is the third type of abduction. Twenty-four percent of reported cases fall into this category. Males who are normally the perpetrators in this situation, do not know their victims and attack mostly females. Elementary school children and teens are primary targets in this situation. Additional offenses are committed, with females, sex offenses occur and with males, assault and possibly robbery will occur.

The chance of being kidnapped is small, but with the comprehensive data provided by the Justice Department, it will provide more insight on the nature and pattern involving kidnapping children. The key to helping reduce or eliminate the probability is awareness.

Information on kidnapping is available through the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).

If you are interested in information on children and youth abduction, contact your local extension agent or contact Karin Bartoszuk, Ph.D., North Dakota State University Extension Service child and adolescent specialist, at (701) 231-8113 for more details.

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Source: Karin Bartoszuk, (701) 231-8113, Karin.Bartoszuk@ndsu.nodak.edu
Editor: Richard Mattern, (701) 231-6136, Richard.Mattern@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Writer: JJ Camarillo, (701) 231-8371, jcamaril@ndsuext.nodak.edu