IMPLICATIONS OF CHILD ABDUCTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND CHILD WELFARE SYSTEMS: A CONSTRUCTIVIST INQUIRY OF THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF GUATEMALAN MOTHERS PUBLICALLY REPORTING CHILD ABDUCTION FOR INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION

Abstract

IMPLICATIONS OF CHILD ABDUCTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND CHILD WELFARE SYSTEMS: A CONSTRUCTIVIST INQUIRY OF THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF GUATEMALAN MOTHERS PUBLICALLY REPORTING CHILD ABDUCTION FOR INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION By: Carmen C. Monico, Ph.D. A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2013 Director: Humberto Fabelo, Ph.D., L.C. S.W. Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs and Associate Professor School of Social Work Abstract The Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption was agreed upon in 1993 at the Hague Conference on Private International Law to address growing allegations of abduction, sale, and trafficking of children around the world. The Hague Convention guides countries to attend to the “best interest of the child” in making decisions on intercountry adoptions, and to apply the “principle ofThe Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption was agreed upon in 1993 at the Hague Conference on Private International Law to address growing allegations of abduction, sale, and trafficking of children around the world. The Hague Convention guides countries to attend to the “best interest of the child” in making decisions on intercountry adoptions, and to apply the “principle of subsidiarity,” which calls for the consideration of family and kinship placement and national adoption prior to the consideration of intercountry adoption. This dissertation research focused on the experience of Guatemalan mothers reporting the abduction of their children for intercountry adoption. It examines implications for human rights and the child welfare system.