Kidnapping and Violence: New Research and Clinical Perspectives

​​This book analyzes kidnapping in three general ways. First, kidnapping, including the threat of kidnapping, reflects a breakdown in the mechanisms of social control in society. At the level of interpersonal relations, the weakening of social control processes allows kidnappers to function in different situations and for diverse motives. This book addresses such questions as: What are the conditions under which kidnappers can evade social control by abducting or threatening to abduct another person? What factors trigger the response of social control mechanisms to kidnappers or attempted kidnappers? How effective are the institutional responses to abductions. Second, governments and para-military and terrorist groups also 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. Emphasis is on how individuals, groups, and governments employ abductions to achieve their social, cultural, religious, and political objectives. Third, certain cultural traditions foster abductions. This analysis examines how cultural traditions in different societies emerge to foster behaviors such as bride abductions. Moreover, this book addresses the extent to which social chamge modifies these cultural patterns.

Dr. Stephen J. Morewitz is President of the forensic sociology consulting firm, STEPHEN J. MOREWITZ, Ph.D., & ASSOCIATES, Buffalo Grove, IL, San Francisco & Tarzana, CA. Founded in 1988, his firm consults in civil, criminal, and immigration court litigation. He is a Lecturer in the Department of Nursing and Health Sciences at California State University, East Bay, and is a Lecturer in the Sociology Department at San Jose State University. 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, Argonne National Laboratory, and the California School of Podiatric Medicine. Dr. Morewitz is the author or co-author of eight books and over 100 other publications, including the award-winning book, Domestic Violence and Maternal and Child Health (New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers/Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2004), the award-winning book, Stalking and Violence. New Patterns of Trauma and Obsession (New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers/Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2003), Death Threats and Violence. New Research and Clinical Perspectives (New York: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2008), and Sexual Harassment and Social Change in American Society (Bethesda, MD: Austin & Winfield, Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, 1996). He is past Chair of the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) Law and Society Division and the SSSP Crime and Delinquency Division and has served on a variety of SSSP committees. He was elected to Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, and to Pi Gamma Mu, the International Honor Society in Social Sciences. Dr. Morewitz earned his A.B. and M.A. from The College of William & Mary in Virginia and his Ph.D. from The University of Chicago.