Children Who Go Missing Repeatedly and Their Involvement in Crime
| Author | Karen Shalev |
| DOI | 10.1350/ijps.2011.13.1.197 |
| Published date | 01 March 2011 |
| Date | 01 March 2011 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Children who go missing repeatedly and
their involvement in crime
Karen Shalev
Institute of Criminal Justice Studies, University of Portsmouth, St George’s Building,
141 High Street, Portsmouth PO1 2HY. Tel: 44 (0)23 9284 3938; Fax: 44 (0)23 9284 3971;
email: karen.shalev@port.ac.uk
Submitted 4 March 2010; revision submitted 30 September 2010;
accepted 26 October 2010
Keywords: young missing persons, crime, policy-makers
Karen Shalev
is a senior lecturer at the Institute
of Criminal Justice Studies at the University of
Portsmouth. She has been working with several
police forces across the UK on a variety of
research projects. Her research focuses mainly
on offenders’ spatial decision-making, property
crime and missing persons.
A
BSTRACT
Much attention has been given to the causes as to
why children go missing and the risks involved
with being missing, such as drug use, poor health
and being the victim of crime. However, missing
children's involvement in crime has received much
less attention. The present study examines 51
children who have been reported missing three or
more times over one year in the area of Oxford
and their involvement with crime. The results
show that 82 per cent of those children were
involved with crime and were arrested at least on
one occasion and that the most common offences
were assaults, GBH, theft and shoplifting and
criminal damage. The paper also discusses the
background characteristics of the children, possible
applications of the findings and recommendations
for future research.
INTRODUCTION
Each year it is estimated that 100,000 chil-
dren and young people go missing from
home or care placements (eg, children’s
homes, foster care homes, etc), citing rea-
sons such as abuse, neglect, violence and
sexuality (Biehal, Mitchell, & Wade, 2003;
Mervyn, 2004; Rees & Lee, 2005; Social
Exclusion Unit [SEU], 2002). All children
and young people who go missing (particu-
larly those living on the streets) face sig-
nificant risks to their health and wellbeing
which include drug use, involvement in
street crime, poor health, assaults, rape,
infection with HIV and AIDS and murder
(Department of Health, 2002; Mervyn,
2004; Rees, 2001). The SEU report (2002)
maintains that many of these youngsters
commit ‘survival’ crimes through stealing,
begging, drug dealing and prostitution.
Later problems in life such as mental health
issues (e.g. depression and addictions), a
criminal career and homelessness have been
linked to going missing as children.
Biehal and Wade (2002, p. 6) refer to
missing children as ‘children and young
people who spend time away from where
they ought to usually live, without the
consent of the parents or carers, or because
they have been forced to leave by parents or
carers’. In the context of the present study,
the preceding events to young people going
missing were unknown. Therefore, a person
under the age of 18 whose carers have
International Journal of Police Science & Management Volume 13 Number 1
International Journal of Police
Science and Management,
Vol. 13 No. 1, 2011, pp. 29–36.
DOI: 10.1350/ijps.2011.13.1.197
Page 29
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