Words child abduction will usually call to mind violent scenes from the movies, a teddy bear left behind in the dirt, a kicking and screaming child put into the back of a van. The fact of the matter is, that family child abductions are actually a lot more common than any other type of abduction. Of course family abductions usually don’t include any violent scenes at all, as the abductor is well known to the child and the child will follow them of their own free will. It might come as a surprise that the majority of family abductions actually take place when the child is with the abductor under lawful circumstances.

Characteristics of Child Abductors

Of course there are many different types of families in this world and there are just as many different types of family abductions. But some of the traits of the family abductions are quite common; let’s have a look at them.

First of all, the abducted children who are aged 3 years or less are at a much greater risk of being abducted that older children. One of the studies found that as much as 35 per cent of children abducted was under 3 years old and as much as 44 per cent of children abducted was under 5 years old. Still it should be kept in mind, that children of any age can be victims of a family abduction.

The age of abductors is also quite specific. As much as 45 per cent of family abductions is carried out by people in their 30s.

Underlying Cause of Child Abductions is Revenge on the Left Behind Parent

The underlying cause of child abductions in most cases is not the love for the child, but the wish for power, control or revenge.It is therefore logical that one common personality trait of the abducting parents is that they are usually the control freaks, while the parents left behind are the calm ones. Some of the abducting parents are actually so narcissistic, that they do not understand that their parent is a separate entity from themselves. They hold the belief that since they hate the other parent, the child also hates them.

It might come as no surprise that Christmas time abductions are more common. The biggest family holiday of the year will make many parents sad that they were not awarded custody of their child, wanting to spend more time with them might lead to a family abduction. There is also a slight increase in the number of abductions in summer, when many children will spend more time with their noncustodial parent, which increases the opportunities for the abduction.

As the abducting parent is obviously the noncustodial parent it might seem only logical that the abductor is usually poorer than the left behind parent. In fact the abducting parent usually comes from an economically depressed family.

Yet another interesting fact that might be observed in many abductions is that the mother of the abducting parent usually has a very large influence in the family.

These are a few common characteristics we were able to find in abductors. But as we wrote before, there are many different types of abductions, so some of the abductors might fall completely out of the boxes mentioned here.