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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 Young women often have another motive, Burgess said -- they want to define themselves by having an infant and may even fake a pregnancy.
Male strangers very rarely abduct babies, said David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. "The main motive is getting a child to raise as their own," he said. "Men in general don't want to be burdened by the care of a child of this age who has so many needs."
According to the new study, the percentage of abducted infants who were white fell from 40 percent to 21 percent, while the percentage of Hispanic infants grew from 17 percent to 32 percent. The percentage of black infants rose from 41 percent to 43 percent.
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The researchers also found that violence during abductions is on the rise.
What can be done to prevent abductions?
Burgess said media coverage of the problem is crucial. It's important to "warn people about this and tell people to not just give up their infant to someone they don't feel has proper authority," she said. "The second piece is that we need to be able to do a better job of understanding women who are even thinking about this so we can better understand the motivation for stealing."
The findings are published in the September issue of the American Journal of Nursing.
More information
To learn more about abducted children, visit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
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