There are many aspects of the horrific abduction of Madeleine McCann that from a psychological point of view I find fascinating. The psychological state of the abductor is clearly something most of us find very challenging to understand. It poses the obvious question what would motivate him or her to abduct a small child and potentially kill her? Whilst researching the case I have come across many theories and explanations for the reasons behind the abduction such as not being able to have a child of their own, hatred towards Madeleine’s parents and the hardest reason to understand, a paedophile. As many of us can not relate to the feelings and emotions required to abduct a child it makes it very challenging to get into a criminals mindset and solve the case. The psychological effect that abduction will have on those closely involved in the case is also very hard to imagine. The impact that Madeleine’s disappearance will have had on her parents and her younger brother and sister is unavoidable and whilst reading Kate McCann’s book I have learnt about a few techniques psychologists have used to try and help them all deal with the consequence. For example one psychologist recommended to Kate to write down all her emotions and feeling in a private diary to help her come to terms with the disappearance of her daughter. Kate admits that this simple technique has helped her a great deal and allows her to express her emotions in a calm and controlled way.
