New Categories of Missing Children: Injured, Lost, Delinquent and Victims of Caretaker Mixups

• NCJ Number: 167377
• Author(s): D Finkelhor; N Asdigian; G Hotaling
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 41 pages
• Contract Number(s): 92-MC-CX-0017
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Corporate Author: University of New Hampshire, Family Research Laboratory
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services; University of New Hampshire, Family Research Laboratory
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examines cases of missing children identified in a national survey of 10,544 households that did not fall into one of the federally defined categories of missing children (family abductions, stranger abductions, runaways, and thrownaways).

Abstract

Using both qualitative and quantitative procedures, the study proposes the existence of four additional categories of missing children: children missing because of injury and accident, children missing because of delinquent and rebellious behavior, children missing because they got lost, and children who appeared to be missing because of miscommunication among adult caretakers. Analysis of the family characteristics of children who had such episodes suggests that parental and family problems, particularly a parent's own history of trauma as a child and the presence of household stress, contribute to a vulnerability for all four types. The study concludes that policy regarding missing children needs to expand to include two of these groups at least: the injured and lost children. Moreover, these episodes, even when not long-lasting, should be viewed not as accidental occurrences, but as warnings that may mask other difficulties. Families that experience such episodes are likely to need other forms of assistance besides locating their missing children. 9 tables and 4 references