Date of Conferral
2-17-2025
Degree
Ph.D.
School
Psychology
Advisor
Wayne Wallace
Abstract
When the media covers stories of child abductions, a common misconception is who the abductor is. Despite what the news broadcasts, a child is more likely to be abducted by a family member or acquaintance than a stranger. This qualitative study was conducted to explore the lived experiences of police officers’ responses to stranger and familial abductions using a phenomenological approach to determine how schemas may shape police officers’ perceptions, specifically concerning responding to child abductions. Schema theory suggests schemas are formed based on an occurrence between an individual and their surrounding environment. Nine interviews were conducted of police officers with experience responding to both stranger and familial child abductions. A thematic analysis of the interviews revealed three themes of determining response urgency, preparedness, and perceptions. The results revealed a connection between police officers’ determining response urgency based on the believed amount of danger to the child, a connection between preparedness and department size, and the perception that the media’s broadcasting on child abductions forms societal stereotypes. Understanding how the schema theory impacts law enforcement officers’ perceptions could allow for improvements of the responses to child abductions and can be used to determine whether police officers in the field may be impacted by the media and misconceptions of child abductions. This study contributes to positive social change by providing further understanding of the lived experience of a police officer’s response to a child abduction and provides the opportunity to inform society on the reality of child abduction cases.
Recommended Citation
Pierce, Kennedy, "The Lived Experiences of Police Officers’ Responses to Stranger and Familial Child Abductions" (2025). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 17379.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/17379
