Kidnaping and the Threats it Poses to the People Living in the US (Essay Sample)

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Kidnaping and the Threats it Poses on the People Living in the US
INTRODUCTION
The term kidnapping comes from the word “kidnapper” which is compound of slang words kid and napper. “Kid”, implying a child while “napper” meaning to seize. Thus kidnapping originally meant to seize a child (Fass 10). Over the years the meaning has been extended to include adult abduction. Thus kidnapping can generally be defined as the act of restraining a person by force and without their consent or unlawfully transporting a person and holding them captive (Kidnapping: Findlaw). In the case of children, the child cannot be deemed willing or not since they cannot make informed decisions on their own. It is a crime punishable by law and the punishment in America varies from state to state.
In the US, most kidnapping cases fall under the state law and the federal law only applies when the crime has crossed states or it is an international case spanning countries. For international child abduction cases the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abductions treaty provides a detailed regulations on returning kidnapped children to their homeland. This treaty does not give provisions of who should have the child, it only addresses where the case should be heard. Federal authorities will then get involved if the case is returned to America.
TYPES OF KIDNAPPING
There are different kinds of kidnapping. The kind of kidnapping also explains the motivation of the kidnapper towards the abduction. Different abductors are motivated by different intentions. Diana M. Concannon, classifies these as revenge, political reasons, satisfaction of lust, the need to control and punish and to distract attention from another crime. The types of kidnapping she enlists include, domestic, political, predatory, profit, revenge, and staged kidnapping (3). Whichever the reason for abduction it still amounts to criminal offence, punishable by law.
Domestic kidnapping usually is done by the spouse or partner “to further custody when the legal right is absent” (Concannon 3). The kidnapper may abduct a past spouse, partner or his/her child and are usually motivated by “need to control or punish” ( Concannon 23). Thus a parent in the States who takes his/her child in the event of separation or divorce without a legal custody may be termed as a kidnapper.
Domestic kidnapping may be within a state, interstate or even international. Abduction of children by either parent may be illegal or legal depending on the state in which the parents reside. However if there exists a formal custody order from a law court and any parent disobeys it, then such will be deemed illegal.
Political kidnapping happens to “further a political agenda” (Concannon 3). It is usually conducted to obtain political concessions from governments and security forces. Political kidnapping is used by rebel groups to support their political goals and at the same time exhort a ransom from the affected governments or security forces. The dissident groups presents certain demands to be met for the release of the captured persons.
Another form of kidnapping is predatory kidnapping. It involves stalking of the victim, violent abduction, rape and sometimes murder. Predatory kidnapping is of two kinds. One type is where the victim of the abduction is a child while the other is when the victim is an adult. In both cases, kidnapping is conducted in order “to satisfy the lusts of the offender” (Concannon 3). The offender either subjects the victim to some kind of assault such as sexual, bodily harm and also emotional torture. In this kind of kidnapping the offender is most likely to hold his/her victim for less than 24 hours (Concannon 48). After the assault the victim usually experiences trauma complications and counselling is recommended.
Profit kidnapping is conducted “for actual or perceived gain” (Concannon 3). Over the years families in the states have increasingly invested more emotional energy to their children (Dabbagh 21). This increased emotional energy of parents to their children implies that they are more willing to pay a big ransom to have their children given back to them when abducted. The kidnappers take advantage of these facts to kidnap children for a ransom. They use threats to force families to give out the required ransom to gain their children. The media has made the situation worse by reporting of the horrors of kidnapping and production of movies depicting kidnapping (Taylor et al. 4). This has acted as an advantage to the kidnappers. Families pay the demanded ransom for fear that if they fail their loved ones may undergo the horrible experiences reported in the media.
Child abduction raise much terror and panic for the family affected. It is much heart wrenching “knowing that a child is away from the protection and security of his or her caretaker(s)” (Taylor et al. 4). For this reason parents and caregivers are reluctant to let their children go out of sight in public places. Whenever the caregivers walk with their children in overcrowded places it is not unusual for some to be paranoid and suspicious over everybody crossing their way.
Revenge kidnapping is form of kidnapping conducted “to rectify a real or perceived wrong” (Concannon 3). The kidnapper in this case is motivated by the desire to pay back real or perceived wrongs done to him/her or to another party. Revenge kidnapping threatens the security of the people living in America. It is associated with higher degree crimes such as murder and sexual assault. It is wrong way of solving problems since there are legal procedures of litigating injustice and unfairness.
Staged kidnapping is done in order to divert attention from another bigger crime committed or to corn people. Diana M. Concannon, describes this as a form of kidnapping done in order to “distract from another crime or undisclosed situation” (p.3). In this kind the victim stages the kidnapping. Staged kidnapping may as well be done in order to evoke mercy on the public who give money to the family of the abductee only for the money to be shared between the abductor and the abductee’s family.
THREATS OF KIDNAPPING
Kidnapping has been a threat in the US. It has “exposed the children of the middle class to the dangers of city life and urban vice” (Fass 6). A journal by Taylor et al, approximates that 262,215 children were abducted in the year 1999, the last year when nationwide study was conducted on child abductions (5). Missing children are continually reported raising alarm over the prevalence of this vice.
Political kidnapping is a threat to the national security. It also discourages international business espec...