A qualitative exploration of the factors associated with contacting or not contacting the police
A missing child represents a significant societal problem which raises concern for that child’s welfare (APPG, 2016; Lampinen et al., 2012a). In 2019/2020, over 325,000 incidents were reported which is equivalent to one report every 90 seconds (Missing People, 2018; NCA, 2021). Of these incidents, approximately 61% relate to missing children (NCA, 2021). In this situation, it is common practice for the police and the family and friends of the missing child to release missing person appeals through the media to request help from members of the public in finding the missing child (Lampinen et al., 2012b; Lampinen and Moore, 2016; Sweeney and Lampinen, 2012). However, despite the importance and wide-scale usage of missing person appeals, no previous research study has explored the decision-making processes of members of the general public to report children to the police following an observed missing child appeal and positive identification.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0032258X211023546