Myth and Fear of Missing Children

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Myth and Fear of Missing Children
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• Highly publicized cases create impression nation
  of macabre epidemic of inexplicable abductions of
  children from safety of homes Brandon
• -- eg. Lindberg baby abduction 1932
• Etan Patz 1979 1st milk carton image,
  http//www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predato
  rs/etan_patz/index.html
• 75 parents fear stranger-abduction Glassner
  1999
• Media idea is fear misplaced?

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Influences on Public Perception

• Sensational, high-profile cases
• --eg. Elizabeth Smart
• --eg. Polly Klaas
• --eg. Megan Kanka
• --eg. Adam Walsh
• Publicity of these cases significant
• --development of sex offender registries
• --community notification policies
• --dramatized TV shows
• --heightening public fear

http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan_Kanka
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Walsh
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National Center for Missing, Exploited Children

• Do you know how many children are missing each
  year? The answer is nearly 800,000, more than
  2000 each day link
• National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted,
  Runaway, and Thrownaway Children -- 2002
• --1999, 797,500 children reported missing
• -- 203,900 children victims of family abductions
  58,200
• -- children abducted by nonfamily members
• -- 115 children victims of "stereotypical
  kidnappings
• Media idea is fear misdirected?

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Linking Missing Children with Sexual Exploitation

• Grief-Stricken Spokespersons 1995 John Walsh
  US is littered with mutilated, decapitated,
  raped strangled children
• Geraldo Rivera 1996 This isnt a commentary,
  this is reality they will come for your kid over
  the Internet they will come in a pickup in the
  dark of night there are sickos out there.
• Shows importance of claimsmakers, and issue of
  convergence-- ie. linking one problem with
  another
• However There are other children in dangers
  path harmed and neglected in ways that dont
  offer melodramatic story lines or chance for TV
  viewers to play detective, whose photos will
  never be passed around at press conferences,
  whose names will never be flashed above a
  freeway
• Susan Smith is more the norm Link to crime

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Distorted definitions

• Ambiguity of the definition missing
• Law linked sexual exploitation, child abduction
• Missing might be due to ran away, thrown away,
  accident, amnesia, suicide
• Merging of three categories
• --missing, exploited, runaways
• Creating reality through misleading statistics
• --1983 1.5-2.5 children missing
• --estimated 5000 murdered
• --however, 66-98 runaways
• --15 parental abductions
• (.00006 stereotypical abduction)

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• Do we hear this?
• --97 family abductions returned
• --90 nonfamily abductions returned
• However with govt, media, parents partners in
  fear, latent media messages stress prevention as
• --danger associated with non-family, and create
• --anxieties associated with unlikely perps, where
• --stress is on family responsibility

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Consequence legal reform creating crime and
criminals

• Legislation made it a,
• felony offense to violate custody order, but
• --neglects issue of abuse within family
• --children placed in foster homes, while
• --advocating tougher punishments
• Sex offender legislation
• --registration
• --notification

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Conclusion

• --merging runaways with abducted creates
  impression of epidemic
• --including stranger abductions allows definition
  of problem as criminal
• --linking sex abuse provokes emotionalism
• --criminalizing all neglects perpetrator
• Legal solution doesnt always address problem of
  missing children
• Question The nature of family relationships
  must be explored in order to begin to understand
  why 1.7 million children flee their homes each
  year