Research Project Assignment On International Parental Child Abduction

Question

Task:As a starting point for your research project you will need to review the literature in your chosen topic area. Your literature review needs to justify the importance and originality of any future proposal to undertake research in the field, thus it needs to clearly establish what is known and not known in your topic area so that you can clearly articulate the gap in knowledge that you will seek to fill in the future.

Your literature review will demonstrate your familiarity with your field of interest through your ability to comprehensively describe key problems, methods, debates and controversies. It will demonstrate your capacity as a credible social work researcher to situate your research within relevant, robust knowledge and to critically review this knowledge in a manner which a critical understanding of your topic.

Topic can choose which one you feel good and related with subject. Only literature review. A Few Topics from past couple of years. You can choose from here as well.

• International Parental Child Abduction
• The Efficacy of Community Care in Youth Mental Health
• Yoga as a Social Work Practice
• The Role of Social Work after stillbirth
• Community Gardens and eco-social work Practice
• Conditional Welfare and Immunisation

Answer

Observation
I personally observed in this research project assignment that international child abduction by any means with the intention to block the lawful action and exercise of parental rights gains the full attention of the law enforcement agencies. I consider the abducted child to be in full danger due to various threatenings and warnings by the abductor and this is the main reason why the responsibility of the concerned law enforcement tends to be much broader. I observed in this research project assignment that some certain factors tend to increase the possibility of parental child abduction and a majority of these abduction cases are unpredictable. Some of the parents are involved in custody disputes that tend to be lengthy in duration or years prior to the removal or inappropriate retention of the child. I observed that not only the child but the victim family also deals with psychological problems and issues during the abduction.

Background
International Parental Child Abduction also is known as IPCA takes place when an individual parent abducts a child to another specific country without acquiring the consent of another parent, or simply denies returning the abducted child from an international country. Congress introduced the federal crime of "International Parental Child Abduction" via the International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act, Title 18 US Penal Code 1204, which eventually constituted both the retention and removal of the abducted child outside the US in detraction of the rights of another parent (travel.state.gov, 2019). It can be said that international parental child abductions are complex circumstances and difficult in nature as they are uncommon. These international abductions of the parental child tend to have psychological, emotional and physical problems and consequences for not only the abducted child but for the victim family as well. This happens because generally the abducted child gets traumatised at an initial stage due to the specific differences in language and traditions, consideration of a new identity, journey from one country to another and many more. In the modern era, a majority of the countries including Canada, US, Australia and many more have introduced strict laws and helpline campaigns in order to help the individual with the abduction of the child.

Managing Subjectivity
I believe that the concerned parent should amalgamate valuable and important information on preventing international parental child abduction. Some steps need to be followed in order to effectively manage the subjectivity as discussed in this research project assignment including critical reflection on personal status, realism, ideological considerations, notions and acknowledge how the differentiative factors will influence the process or method of research. Furthermore, I will ensure the consideration of the ethical norms and principles of social work research outlined as this will help and guide me in designing and undertaking equitable research. A majority amount of the International Parental Child Abduction cases present formidable difficulties and challenges however, they can be reduced via timely and appropriate actions of the respective law enforcement agencies.

Approach
A paradigm is defined as a distinctive set of structured concepts and notions including research methods, research theories, postulates and standards for what forms a justified and enormous contribution to the specific field. It can be said that paradigm has been categorised into three aspects including epistemology, ontology and methodology. The ontology and epistemology element helps in developing holistic insights regarding how the specific knowledge is acknowledged. The selection of the approaches will help in improving the quality of the research and contribute to the content effectively. Additionally, my personal approach to the research topic is critical paradigm as the ontological stance of this type of approach is considered to be historical realism that ascertains that reality or realism is a socially structured or constructed factor. In other terms, a positivist approach has been selected as it is closely linked to subjectivism where the possession of knowledge is influenced and socially developed by power relations.

Literature Review
This section of this research project assignment will cover all the literature articles and information regarding the research topic in order to prove the importance and realism of the research.

Putting the Issue in Perspective
This sub-section will explain the impact of wrongfully retaining or removing a child from another parent and what is the reason behind such action. Some civil and criminal remedies will be included in this research to address the problem in an elaborative manner.

Impact of Parental Child Abduction on Children
It is obvious for the abducted child to get traumatised when they are wrongfully taken to international countries and the primary reasons behind this are considered to be the differences in language and culture and fear of assuming a new identity. Furthermore overtime, some pressure may be exerted on the victim in order to effectively adapt to new customs and culture. The abducted child can also suffer or deal with a feeling of isolation eventually developing an unhealthy relationship with the abducting parent and this could develop a skewed perception or mindset on any of the parents forming on the impact of the abducting individual. There exist various risk factors for wrongful parental abduction such as a long history of martial unsteadiness or lack of coordination and cooperation between the concerned parents (Sherer, 2013).

Risk Factors for Abduction
Some of the risk factors are known to increase the possibility of parental child abduction and these are considered to be unexaminable.

• Earlier abducted or threatened by the parent to take the child results in the increased possibility of wrongful parental kidnapping.
• A lack of a strong support network from family or potential friends could also result in the abduction of a parental child.
• In some other cases, the parents are blindsided by the wrongful abduction of their respective child (Sherer, 2013).

Civil Remedies
One of the most crucial and essential civil remedies that could be of great help to parents in the cases of international parental child abduction is considered to be the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction also known as Hague Abduction Convention. This remedy provides for the immediate return of the internationally kidnapped children to their resident country. For example, the parents whose children have been kidnapped or abducted internationally in a specific country i.e. a convention partner with the US can immediately interact with the US Department of State's Office of Children's Issues for the prompt return of their child with the submission of a Hague application via the office. A concerned parent wanting to report for its abducted child in Australia can consider contacting ISS Australia that provides various professional services to the victim's parent and families such as legal guidance, social work help and support and many more. ISS Australia also known as International Social Service is a national not-for-profit entity that defends the children's rights in accordance with the rightful laws and policies of international parental child abduction.

However, if the kidnapped child has been moved to a particular country that is not a Hague Convention partner of the US, then it is recommended to the parent to contact the Office of Children’s Issues to get assisted in the immediate return procedure of the abducted child. Some of the international courts who are not a Hague Convention partner do not possess the system for identifying and enforcing a custody agreement of the US. It can be said that a majority of the state prosecutors or law enforcement agencies operating in various states possess civil authority or autonomy for locating and recovering the abducted child. The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act provides the state prosecutors and law enforcement agencies with the civil static authority to execute any specific lawful action for acknowledging the location and situation of the child and then facilitate the required procedure for its immediate return to its resident country (icmec.org, 2019).

Criminal Remedies: According to the law of every state, parental child abduction is termed as a crime and every individual state has situations and circumstances under which it is termed as a crime or felony. For example, US Code 1204 Title 18 enacted as a component of the International Parental Child Abduction Crime Act that also eventually terms it as a federal crime or offence to wrongfully kidnap a child with the specific intention to barricade the lawful actions and exercise of parental rights.

Preventing International Parental Child Abduction
This section will explain the measures and actions that the law enforcement agencies need to undertake in order to prevent such cases of International Parental Child Kidnapping.

Abduction Prevention for Law Enforcement: It can be said that the domestic, federal and state law enforcement is in the best designations to help prevent an international parental child kidnapping i.e. by considering the parent's allegations to be true and secondly, by acknowledging the law authority to take part in the intervention. The risks or threat of an international abduction tends to be known and understandable to law enforcement officers or sergeants whenever a concerned parent desires help and assistance. In the case of the parent’s allegations, it may be formed on some particular doubtful conduct or potential threats. However, for the law enforcement officers, the case comes to light from a local casualty or disturbance call (Schuz, 2014).

Abduction Prevention for concerned parents: In this modern era of the world, it is important for the parents to acknowledge their rights and similarly understand the process of reducing the risk or threat of abduction (Schuz & Shmueli, 2012). Some of the steps that parents should consider into account are as follows:

• The concerned parents should inform the school authority about the potential possibility for abduction and ensure that the school maintains satisfying security levels for the child. In order to effectively do this, the parents should provide the school authorities with a copy of the custody agreement.
• It is important for the parents to contact an attorney and attain an appropriate court order along with the clear outlining of travel guidelines and preventions.
• There are various complications for the child over the possession of dual nationality and in this specific condition, the parents need to seek help and support from the foreign embassy or authority in order to prevent the approval of a passport in the name of the child.

Criminal Prosecution and Extradition: This section of this research project assignment will explain the various options available to the concerned parents for criminal charging in the cases of International Parental Abduction and when these specific criminal or extradition charges needs to be pursued. The decisions associated with the seeking of local or federal criminal charges are done depending on the nature of the cases. There is a possibility of the abductor returning the child safely to the concerned parent but there also exists a possibility of the abductor going into deep hiding. This is the primary reason why the sealing of charging paperwork and arrest warrants are appropriate instead of taking the criminal into custody and hence it is the utmost responsibility of the concerned parent to consult a prosecutor and understand on how effectively to interact with the individual parties involved. The process of the Hague Abduction Convention is not termed as a legislative prohibition against the concept of criminal charges but a potential view that this convention should stand as the main recourse for the parents when the mission is to locate and return the child abducted to a Hague Abduction Convention partner (justice.gov, 2019).

Gaap in Literature Review: Due to time-constraint and budget, the researcher was not able to gather and amalgamate all the crucial information and data in a structured manner. This means that due to some problems of time and budget all the detailed information were not included in the research leading to the absence of significant information from other scholarly materials and journals.

Conclusion
It has been concluded from the research project assignment that all individual reports of abducted children need immediate attention and response in order to ensure the well-being and safety of not only the child but as well as of the concerned family also. It can be said that international parental child kidnappings are basically criminal offences that needs a full and detailed investigation by law enforcement by ensuring informed and timely measures or actions. The purpose of the research project assignment was to understand the topic "International Parental Child Abduction" and explain its literature review with reference to different scholarly materials and journals. Research project assignments are being prepared by our experts from top universities which let us to provide you a reliable assignment help online service.

Reference List
icmec.org. (2019). International Child Abduction - International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children. Retrieved from https://www.icmec.org/international-child-abduction/

justice.gov. (2019). International Parental Kidnapping. Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/criminal-ceos/international-parental-kidnapping

Schuz, R. (2014). The Hague child abduction convention: a critical analysis. A&C Black.

Schuz, R., & Shmueli, B. (2012). Between Tort Law, Contract Law, and Child Law: How to Compensate the Left-Behind Parent in International Child Abduction Cases. Colum. J. Gender & L., 23, 65.

Sherer, B. (2013). The Maturation of International Child Abduction Law: From the Hague Convention to the Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act. J. Am. Acad. Matrimonial Law., 26, 137.

travel.state.gov. (2019). International Parental Child Abduction. Retrieved from https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/International-Parental-Child-Abduction.html