Child Abduction Policy: Influenced by Media Coverage or Empirical Data?

Social problems, such as child abductions, are connected with policy initiatives, in that they often serve as the underlying rationale (or justification) for the policy. This paper analyzes both national news media and local Ohio news media’s characterization of child abductions during the year following the Smart abduction, and compares that characterization with the social science evidence about the extent of the child abduction problem; and, examines the creation of child abduction polices during and around the study period and assess if these policies are supported by the empirical evidence. Findings suggest that child abduction policy initiatives during the study period reflected the media’s conceptualization of the problem rather than the empirical conceptualization. Recommendations for extended research discussed