ContactDetails
AswearestillintheinitialphaseofourprojectwhereweareseekingethicalapprovalfrombothAbertayUniversityEthicsCommitteeandPoliceScotland,wewouldwelcomeanypossiblecommentsandfeedbackregardingtheideaspresentedinthisposter.IfyouwishtocontactuspleaseemailClaireTayloratC.Taylor2@abertay.ac.uk,DrPennyWoolnoughatP.Woolnough@abertay.ac.ukorProfessorGeoffDickensatG.Dickens@abertay.ac.uk.Alternatively,youcancontactusandfindoutmoreinformationviaourwebsiteorsocialmediaaccounts:Website–www.multiplemissing.weebly.comTwitter–www.twitter.com/MultipleMissingFacebook-www.facebook.com/Multiple-Missing-1503858689926332/ThankyouforyourinterestintheMultipleMissingproject,wehopeyouenjoyedtheconferenceandwelookforwardtohearinganycommentsorideasthatyoumayhaveregardingourresearch.
Mul$pleMissing:BehaviouralConsistencyinRepeatMissingAdults
C.Taylor1,P.S.Woolnough1&G.L.Dickens2
ResearchQues$ons&Objec$ves
1. Clarify opera.onal and conceptual defini.ons of the term
‘missingpersons’throughconceptanalysis.
2. Establishwhatisalreadyknownaboutthosewhorepeatedlygomissingthroughsystemicreviewofexis.ng interna.onal
literature.
3. Establish whether adults who go missing repeatedly differ
fromthosewhoonlygomissingonce
4. To what extent are adult repeat missing episodes
behaviourally and func.onally consistent across .me and
withtheirnormallives?
5. Whatrisksdorepeatmissingadultsface?
6. Whatcanwelearnaboutrepeatmissingadultsinrela.onto
mul.-agencypreven.onandsafeguardingstrategies?
Methodology
Stage 1 – Quan%ta%ve analysis of exis.ng data inrela.on to all adult repeatmissing persons reported to
Police Scotland. All iden.fied cases will be analysed to
establish the nature and incidence of repeat missing
adults including poten.al risk factors such as, age, sex,
mentalhealth,numberofmissingincidents,dura.onand
loca.onfound.
Stage2–Interviewswithrepeatmissing.Individualswillbe recruited with the support of Police Scotland,
following which, in-depth interviews and psychological
tes.ngwillbeconductedtoprovidecri.calinsightsinto
the nature of individuals missing episodes including
psychological, func.onal, behavioural and geographical
aspectstohelpiden.fypoten.alconsistencies.
Stage 3– Interviewswith care providerswithin the top10 loca.ons for repeat missing adults across Scotland
such as hospitals,will be conducted. The interviewswill
examine their views, responsibili.es, experiences and
aRtudestowardsrepeatmissingadults.
Prac$calImplica$ons
This is thefirstpsychologically-focused studyof its kind,and
willprovideanenhancedunderstandingofthekey issuesfor
strategic innova.on in the preven.on and protec.on of
repeatmissingadults.Resultswillbeofinterestandprac.cal
relevancetoprac..onersandpolicymakersandcontributeto
academic debates in inves.ga.ve and experimental
psychology, human geography and mental health. Various
outputs will be disseminated including briefing papers,
academic papers and website updates can be found on our
websitewww.mul%plemissing.weebly.com.
Background&Ra$onale
UK police receive approximately 350,000missing person reports
onayearlybasis,cos.ngupto£2500percase(ShalevGreene&
Pakes, 2013). It is believed that around 38% of all reported
incidents involve individuals who have previously gone missing
(Na.onal Crime Agency, 2012/13). Despite the financial and
human costs that are associated with each missing episode,
research into and theory development regarding repeatmissing
behaviourisextremelyunderdeveloped.
To date, research has focused on children and adolescents who
run away from care (Biehal&Wade, 2000) and a small body of
research on the related topic of absconding frommental health
inpa.ent seRngs has also been developed (O’Shea & Dickens,
2015). This has increased our knowledge of prevalence rates,
outcomesandstaff influencehoweverourunderstandingofwhy
adults repeatedly go missing and their vulnerabili.es and
experienceswhilstawayareintheirinfancy.
Missing episodes can be indicators of significant vulnerabili.es
and up to 80% of adult missing persons are thought to have
mental health issues (Gibb & Woolnough, 2007; Holmes,
Woolnough, Gibb, Lee & Crawford, 2013). Spa.al profiling
suggests that theremay be a degree of behavioural consistency
amongst missing persons with the samemental health disorder
(Gibb & Woolnough, 2007). Therefore exploring adults ‘missing
careers’ and consistencies across their repeat incidents will
provide cri.cal insights into the future safeguarding of this
vulnerablepopula.on.
References
• Biehal, N., &Wade, J. (2000). Taking a Chance? The Risks Associatedwith Going
MissingfromSubs.tuteCare.ChildAbuseReview,8(6),366–376.• Gibb, G.J., & Woolnough, P. (2007). Missing persons: Understanding, planning,
responding–aguideforpoliceofficers.Aberdeen:GrampianPolice.
• Holmes, L., Woolnough, P., Gibb, G.J., Lee, R.L. & Crawford, M. (2013), ‘Missing
PersonsandMentalHealth’,paperpresentedtotheFirstInterna.onalConference
onMissingChildrenandAdults,UniversityofPortsmouth.
• Na.onalCrimeAgency.MissingPersons:dataandanalysis2012/13.
• O’Shea,L.E.,&Dickens,G.L.(2015).Predic.vevalidityofthestartforunauthorisedleaveandsubstanceabuseinasecurementalhealthseRng:Apseudo-prospec.ve
cohortstudy.InternaConalJournalofNursingStudies,52,970-979.• Shalev Greene, K., & Pakes, F. (2013).The cost of missing person inves.ga.ons:
Implica.onsforcurrentdebates.Policing:AJournalofPolicyandPrac.ce,36(1).1-8.
1DivisionofPsychology,AbertayUniversity,UK.2DivisionofMentalHealthNursing
andCounselling,AbertayUniversity,UK.
ContactDetails
Asweares.ll in the ini.alphaseofourprojectwhereweare
seeking ethical approval from both Abertay University Ethics
Comminee and Police Scotland, we would welcome any
possiblecommentsandfeedbackregardingtheideaspresented
in this poster. If you wish to contact us please email Claire