top of page
RESEARCH BLOG.
Use the search bar at the top to look for specific posts/topics.


Current State of the Literature on Risk Factors for 'Going Missing'
Previous research has predominantly examined the risk factors for ‘going missing’ by uncovering various demographic and psychopathological factors that place an individual at high risk for going missing to reduce and prevent these incidents through risk assessments and targeted interventions. Scholarship has attempted to account for some social and environmental impacts, classified as 'push' and 'pull' factors, that may influence a missing event ( Tarling & Burrows, 2004 ).

Lorna Ferguson


A Call for Including Missing Persons in Victimological Scholarship
Missing persons research has relevance in victimological scholarship, and that with such research, we could begin to advance...

Michelle N. Eliasson


Missing Persons and Evidence-Based Policing: A Police Officer Perspective
The following blog features an article summary of a working paper I have with Lorna Ferguson examining police missing persons data accuracy across categories used for risk assessment and determining police response. You will also learn a little about my involvement in this research as a police officer — a unique opportunity for a RCMP officer who is used to investigating and not diving deep into research and evidence-based techniques. The challenges and benefits to embarking

Wendy Picknell


We Need Usable National Data on Missing Persons, Now
In 2017, a submission to the Government of Canada by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) noted that there needs to be an extensive effort made...

Lorna Ferguson


Missing persons cases: Is an ounce of prevention better than a pound of cure?
The high number of missing person reports that occur globally each year highlights the need for research in this academically neglected field. In this regard, in Spain, some research is being conducted in collaboration with the Spanish National Centre of Missing Persons (CNDES) dependent of the Spanish Ministry of the Interior. One of the main goals of these initiatives is to generate an empirical body of knowledge which will establish an evidence-informed approach for preven

Néstor García Barceló


On the Current Usefulness of Risk in Missing Persons Cases
“Those who have knowledge, don’t predict. Those who predict, don’t have knowledge” - Lao Tzu Risk is the predominate lens through which academics, police practitioners and policy makers view the phenomenon of missing persons. The logic behind using this lens is both simple and deceptive. One version of it - what I’ll call the ‘academic fallacy’ - runs something like this: a. if we can identify those individual risk factors associated with going missing, b. and we can we

Laura Huey
bottom of page