Kidnapping and Violence: New Research and Clinical Perspectives

This book analyzes kidnapping in various forms and from various perspectives. First it argues that kidnapping, including the threat of kidnapping, reflects a breakdown in the mechanisms of social control in society. This volume also discusses the ways governments and para-military and terrorist groups employ kidnappings as part of their foreign and domestic policy. This analysis evaluates why and under what conditions governments, para-military and terrorist groups decide to abduct individuals and groups. It emphasizes how individuals, groups, and governments employ abductions to achieve their psychological, social, religious, and political objectives. This analysis also examines the ways in which cultural traditions in different societies emerge to foster behaviors such as bride abductions. Moreover, this book addresses the extent to which social change modifies these cultural patterns.

Suitable for students and researchers, mental health practitioners, and law enforcement, this volume is a unique analysis of our contemporary understanding of kidnapping and violence, and the social, psychological, political, and cultural motivations for such an act.

Dr. Stephen J. Morewitz is President of the consulting firm, Stephen J. Morewitz, Ph.D., & Associates, San Francisco & Tarzana, CA, which was founded in 1988. He is the Founder and President of the Forensic Social Sciences Association. He is a Lecturer in the Department of Justice Studies and Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, San Jose State University and is a Lecturer in the Department of Health Sciences, California State University, East Bay. Dr. Morewitz has been on the faculty or staffs of Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Medicine and School of Public Health, DePaul University, and the California School of Podiatric Medicine. Dr. Morewitz, a triple-certified forensic social scientist, is the author of twelve books, one forthcoming book, and many other publications. His books include the award-winning Handbook of Forensic Sociology and Psychology (Co-Edited with Dr. Mark L. Goldstein) (New York: Springer, 2014), the award-winning Death Threats. New Research and Clinical Perspectives (New York: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2008), the award-winning, Domestic Violence and Maternal and Child Health (New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers/Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2004), the award-winning Stalking and Violence. New Patterns of Trauma and Obsession (New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers/Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2003), and Sexual Harassment and Social Change in American Society (Bethesda, MD: Austin & Winfield, Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, 1996). In 2010, he was named San Jose State University Scholar Presenter for his book, Death Threats. New Research and Clinical Perspectives (New York: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2008).