Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Exemplification of child abduction in US news media: Testing media effects on parental perceptions and assessment of risk

Exemplification of Child Abduction in US media

  • Published:
Journal of Experimental Criminology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The objective of this study is to advance the literature on exemplification theory and how media coverage can impact public perceptions of crime. This 3-condition, between-subjects experimental design tests whether specific child abduction news stories influenced parental concerns, in particular their estimation of the likelihood of the crime as a threat in their own communities and for their own families. This study finds that there are no significant direct effects of being exposed to news stories about child abduction on the perception that the problem will get worse; however, this effect is mediated by the perception of child abduction as a threat in one’s own community. The level of proximity may explain why parents exposed to the extreme news exemplar perceive child abductions to be a problem in their own community, but not necessarily perceive the crime as a personal threat likely to happen to one’s own child or family. Theoretical and practical implications about news coverage and its impact on public perceptions of crime are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alter, J. (2002). Who’s taking the kids? Newsweek. Retrieved from http://www.newsweek.com/whos-takingkids-147375

  • Bissler, D., & Conners, J. (2014). The harms of crime media: Essays on the perpetuation of racism, sexism and class stereotypes. McFarland & Company Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bullock, C., Spratt, M., & Lockett, J. (2013). Newspapers provide context in Elizabeth Smart abduction. Newspaper Research Journal, 34(4), 24–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carter Olson, C. (2016). #BringBackOurGirls: Digital communities supporting real-world change and influencing mainstream media agendas. Feminist Media Studies, 16(5), 772–787.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davison, W. P. (1983). The third-person effect in communication. Public Opinion Quarterly, 47(1), 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Cock, R. (2012). Mediating Flemish children's reactions of fear and sadness to television news and its limitations, Journal of Children and Media, 6(4), 485–501.

  • Desilver, Drew (2016). Dangers that teens and kids face: A look at the data. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/01/14/dangers-that-young-people-face-a-look-at-the-data/

  • Divoky, D. (1986). Missing tot estimates exaggerated, Lodi News-Sentinel, p. 2.

  • Duvall, S. S. & Moscowitz, L. (2015). Snatched: Child abductions in U.S. new media. New York: Peter Lang.

  • Fass, P. (1997). Kidnapped: Child abduction in America. Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Finkelhor, D., & Ormrod, R. (2000). Kidnapping of juveniles: Patterns from NIBRS. Juvenile Justice Bulletin. US Department of Justice: Office of Justice Programs: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Retrieved October, 1, 2007.

  • Finkelhor, D., & Jones, L. (2006). Why have child maltreatment and child victimization declined? Journal of Social Issues, 62(4), 685–671.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fritz, N. J., & Altheide, D. L. (1987). The mass media and the social construction of the missing children problem. The Sociological Quarterly, 28(4), 473–492.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerbner, G., Gross, L., Morgan, M., & Signorielli, N. (2002). Growing up with television: The cultivation perspective. In M. Morgan (Ed.), Against the mainstream: The selected works of George Gerbner (pp. 193–213). Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, R., & Zillman, D. (1994). Exaggerated versus representative exemplification in news reports perception of issues and personal consequences. Communication Research, 21(5), 603–624.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gorelick, S. (1992). Cosmology of Fear. Media Studies Journal, 6, 17–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, A. F. (2012). PROCESS: A versatile computational tool for observed variable mediation, moderation, and conditional process modeling.

  • Jensen, B. (2018). What do parents fear most? Retrieved from https://www.asecurelife.com/what-do-us-parents-fear-most/

  • Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1972). Subjective probability: A judgment of representativeness. Cognitive Psychology, 3(3), 430–454.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, G. (2015). 58,000 children ‘abducted’ a year: yet another fishy statistic. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/03/17/58000-children-abducted-a-year-yet-another-fishy-statistic/

  • Kilpatrick, D. G., Saunders, B. E., & Smith, D. W. (2003). Youth victimization: Prevalence and implications, research in brief. US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martins, N., & Wilson, B. J. (2011). Parental communication about kidnapping stories in the US news. Journal of Children and Media, 5(02), 132–146.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Mayo, M. (2008). American Murder: Criminals, Crimes, and the Media. Visible Ink Press.

  • McCurley, C., & Snyder, H. N. (2004). Victims of violent juvenile crime. US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

  • McDermott, C. M., Miller, M. K., & DeVault, A. (2020). They should have known: Hindsight and outcome biases in child abduction cases. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 50(7), 430–438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, N. C., Brown, A. L., Marchetti, L. M., & Pedroso, M. S. (2011). US school travel, 2009: An assessment of trends. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 41(2), 146–151.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moscowitz, L., & Duvall, S. (2011). “Every parent’s worst nightmare:” Myths of child abductions in US news. Journal of Children and Media, 5(02), 147–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murr, A. (2002). When kids go missing. Newsweek, 1.

  • National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: Children missing from care: 2019 retrieved from https://www.missingkids.org/.

  • Potter, G. W., & Kappeler, V. E. (2006). Constructing crime: Perspectives on making news and social problems. Waveland Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pritchard, D., & Hughes, K. D. (1997). Patterns of deviance in crime news. Journal of Communication, 47, 49–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ropeik, D. (2003). What really scares us. Parade Magazine, 12–14.

  • Sedlak, A. J., Finkelhor, D., Hammer, H., & Schultz, D. (2002). National incidence studies of missing, abducted, runaway, and thrownaway children. National estimates of missing children: An overview. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

  • Sedlak, A. J., Finkelhor, D., & Brick, J. M. (2017). National estimates of missing children: Updated findings from a survey of parents and other primary caretakers. Juvenile Justice Bulletin. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. NCJ, 250089.

  • Shadler, J. (2009). Missing forever; What really happened to Etan Patz? (Season 31, Episode 20090609). 20/20. ABC News Productions

  • Sheley, J. F., & Ashkins, C. D. (1981). Crime, crime news, and crime views. Public Opinion Quarterly, 45, 492–506.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simpson, C., Odor, R., & Masho, S. (2004). Childhood sexual assault victimization in Virginia. Center for Injury & Violence Prevention. Virginia Department of Health.

  • Snyder, H. N. (2000). Sexual assault of young children as reported to law enforcement: Victim, incident, and offender characteristics. A NIBRS Statistical Report.

  • Stickler, G. B., Salter, M., Broughton, D. D., & Alario, A. (1991). Parents’ worries about children compared to actual risks. Clinical Pediatrics, 30(9), 522–528.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, J., Boisvert, D., Sims, B., & Garver, C. (2013). An examination of gender and age in print media accounts of child abductions. Criminal Justice Studies, 26(2), 151–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trope, Y., Liberman, N., & Wakslak, C. (2007). Construal levels and psychological distance: Effects on representation, prediction, evaluation, and behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 17(2), 83–95.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Walsh, J., Krienert, J., & Comens, C. (2016). Examining 19 years of officially reported child abduction incidents (1995–2013): employing a four category typology of abduction. Criminal Justice Studies, 29(1), 21–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, B. J., Martins, N., & Marske, A. L. (2005). Children’s and parents’ fright reactions to kidnapping stories in the news. Communication Monographs, 72(1), 46–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolak, J., Finkelhor, D., & Sedlak, A. J. (2016). Child victims of stereotypical kidnappings known to law enforcement in 2011. Juvenile Justice Bulletin, 1–20.

  • Zillman, D. (2006). Exemplification effects in the promotion of safety and health. Journal of Communication, 56(s1), S221–S237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zillman, D. & Brosius, H. B. (2012). Exemplification in communication: The influence of case reports on the perception of issues. Routledge

Download references

Acknowledgements

This manuscript is the product of a graduate-level experimental design course taught by Dr. Robert M. McKeever, School of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of South Carolina.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Relations & Advertising, Communication & Media Department, University of Southern Indiana, 8600 University Boulevard, Evansville, IN, 47712, USA

    Jane Long Weatherred

  2. School of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of South Carolina, 800 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Leigh Moscowitz

Authors
  1. Jane Long Weatherred
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Leigh Moscowitz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jane Long Weatherred.

Additional information

Publisher's note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Weatherred’s research examines health communication, specifically, news portrayals of child abuse and its impact on public policy. She has published in the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse and received grant funding to develop two psychometric measurements regarding child sexual abuse.

Moscowitz’s research examines the cultural production of news and the politics of media representation. She is the author of three books, “The Battle over Marriage: Gay Rights Activism through the Media” (University of Illinois Press, 2013); “Snatched: Coverage of Child Abductions in U.S. News Media” (Peter Lang Publishing, 2015) and Media and the Coming Out of Gay Male Athletes in American Team Sports (Peter Lang Publishing, 2018).

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Weatherred, J.L., Moscowitz, L. Exemplification of child abduction in US news media: Testing media effects on parental perceptions and assessment of risk. J Exp Criminol 20, 297–316 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-022-09535-9

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-022-09535-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation