Exploratory Study on Intimate Partner Kidnapping: Is This a Prevailing Issue in Intimate Partner Relationships?

The following study is an exploratory analysis of intimate partner kidnapping. This research focuses on kidnappings that occur between adult intimate partners only. The purpose of this research is to identify the prevalence rates and demographic patterns of this type of violence as well as make comparisons between intimate partner kidnapping and nonintimate partner kidnapping and comparisons between intimate partner kidnapping and intimate partner assaults (a more commonly studied form of intimate partner violence). This research relies on the National Incident-Based Reporting System (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2012) not only to identify descriptive characteristics but also to conduct bivariate comparisons of the different types of kidnapping violence and intimate partner violence. The findings from this research find that despite being a fairly rare event, intimate partner kidnapping occurs more often than nonintimate partner kidnapping, although not more often than intimate partner assaults. There are several differences between intimate partner kidnapping and nonintimate partner kidnapping as well as intimate partner kidnapping and intimate partner assault. Victims of intimate partner kidnapping were significantly younger than nonintimate partner kidnapping and intimate partner violence assaults, and females were more likely to be victims of kidnapping compared to nonintimate partner kidnapping and intimate partner violence assaults. There was a higher proportion of Whites and Hispanics who were victims of intimate partner kidnapping. There was also a greater proportion of blunt object/personal weapons (compared to firearms and knives) used in intimate partner kidnapping. Lastly, there was a significantly lower proportion of severe injury in intimate partner kidnapping compared to intimate partner violence assaults. A discussion of the conclusions and implications and directions for future research is also included.