Crime prevention series

Preface

Published in:
Missing children : advice, information and preventative action for parents, teachers and counsellors
Paul Wyles
Canberra : Australian Institute of Criminology, 1988
ISBN 0 642 13556 8 ; ISSN 1031-5330
(Crime prevention series) ; pp. 1-2

The problem of missing children is a social issue of particular concern to police, parents, teachers, counsellors and indeed all associated with the welfare of children. In the past emphasis in this area has focused on the sensationalism of abductions, abuse, runaways and murders. Little has been written on prevention.

This booklet improves that situation by providing information, simple suggestions and practical advice aimed at preventing missing children.

Most schools today teach children to beware of strangers. Such programs are of little value if parents avoid responsibility for the safety of their children. Parents need to be continually aware concerning their child's development, well-being and safety. This booklet offers parents, teachers and counsellors specific advice in these areas.

There are two major principles of prevention encompassed in this booklet. The first aims to raise parents' awareness of preventive methods and the second will educate parents to warning signs in their child's behaviour and suggest appropriate action.

Clearly parents have different values, degrees of possessiveness and levels of concern. Some children are naturally more cautious than others and therefore require less concern as to their safety. Thus, although the various categories of advice offered will have different degrees of relevance to different parents in different circumstances, all advice has some relevance to all parents.

Few parents are so placed to be able to follow all advice given, but it is up to individuals to consider what they feel is important and appropriate in their particular circumstances.

For teachers, refuge workers, counsellors, welfare workers, police officers and others concerned with child safety and welfare, this booklet is a valuable educational tool, reference and referral resource.

As a cautionary note, it should be remembered that the advice offered here is not valid or correct in every case. It has been collected from experts in the field of missing children, but parents must use their own discretion when implementing the suggestions. As with most preventive advice there are no hard and fast rules for all situations.

The booklet can be divided into three major sections. The first deals with preventive methods and techniques: warning signs in a child's behaviour and suggests possible action. The second section provides advice to be followed and appropriate actions to be taken by parents if their child goes missing. It also looks at common reactions of parents and examines coping and grief. The final section is a suggested reading list and a directory of services, organisations and groups that have proved helpful to missing children, their families and friends.

Missing Persons, a report published by the Australian Institute of Criminology, forms the basis of this booklet. Special thanks must go to its authors particularly Bruce Swanton, Paul Wilson and Lavinia Hill.

Thanks also are due to Christine Vincent for her important contribution to runaways through her work and her booklet Teenage Runaways; Sergeant Vicki Brown and her colleagues in the Community Policing Squad of the Victoria Police for the information on Protective Behaviour; The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in the United States; and all the staff at the Australian Institute of Criminology who helped and supported in the production of this booklet.

Paul Wyles
March 1988