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On the Construction of a Social Problem : British Columbian Newspaper Coverage of Missing Children, 1981-1991

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On the Construction of a Social Problem : British Columbian Newspaper Coverage of Missing Children, 1981-1991 Timothey Harrison B.A., Cni\-ersit? of Guelph, 199 1 THESIS SUBMITTED LY PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOQTSE DEGREE QF MASTER OF rZIiTS In the School of Criminof ogy @Timothey Harrison 1995 Simon Fraser University March 1995 Aft rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in ir.ho!e or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. The quality of this microform is La qualite de cette microforme heavily dependent upon the depend grandernent de la qualite quality of the original thesis de Ea Phhe soumise au submitted or microfiirning. rnicror'iimage. Nous avons tout Every effort has been made to fait pour assurer une qualite ensure the highest quality of superieure de reproduction. reproduction possible. If pages are missing, contact the S3i!manque des pages, veuillez university which granted the cornmuniquer avec I'universite degree. qui a confer6 le grade. Some pages may have indistinct La qualite d'impression de print especially if the originat certaines pages peut kisser B pages were typed with a poor dbsirer, surtout si les pages typewrbr ribbon or if the originales ont ete university sent us an inferior dactyfographiees a I'aide d'un photocopy. ruban use ou si I'universite nous a fait parvenir une photacopie de qualit6 infbrieure. Reproduction in full or in part of La reproduction, mBme partielle, this microform is governed by de cette microforme est soumise the Canadian Copyright Act, B fa Loi canadienne sur le droit A'C)~.CA% u C 0 4 fi P en * $970, C. GOand u aurr;L5t5 JRL r ~70,C. L-au, et subsequent amendments. ses amendements subsequents. L'AUTECX A ACCORDE UNE LICENCE IRREtlOCmE ET NON EXCLUSM3 PERMEITANT A LA BBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE DU CANADA DE REPRODUIRE, PRETER, DISTRIBUER OU VENDRE DES COPES DE SA THESE DE QUELQUE hAAMERE: ET SOUS QtTrGLQtEFOR'tE QW CE SOIT POUR MEWDES EXEMPLAIRES DE CETTE THESE A LA DISPOSITION DES PERSONNE MTERESSEES. TEE AUT'XOR RETAINS OWNERSHfP L'AUTEUR CONSERVE LA PROPRIETE OF THE COPYRIGHT IN EIIS/HER DU DROIT D'AUTEUR QUI PROTEGE THESIS.NEITHER THE THESIS NOR SA THESE.M LA THESE M. DES SIJBSTANTffi EKTRAmS FROM IT EXT'IUUTS SUBSTANT][ELS DE CELLE- MAY BE PRINTED OR OTHERWISE CI NE DOrVENT ETRE WRTMES OU REPRODUCED WITHOUT KIS/HIER AUTREMENT REPRODUITS SANS SON PIZRMSSION. AIJTORf SATION. Name: Degree: Title of Thesis: Coverage *-d~~~niidre& 1981 - 1991 Examining Commit tee: Chairperson: - - William Glackman, PhD. Associate Professor Douglas Cousineau, PhD. Associate Professop % Hollis F. Johnson, M.A. Insrrucmr, KwanrSen Coiiege External Examiner PARTIAL COPWGHT LICENSE I hereby gram to Simsn Fraser Unix-ersity the right to lend my rhesis, prone-tor exqended essay fthe ~tleof xhich is showm below) EO users ot' the Simon Fraser Unh-ersity Librarq.. and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the librq of my other university. or other educational institution. on its oxn behalf or for one of its users. I further agree rhat permission for multiple copying of this work for schalarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed vithout my written permission. On the Construction of a Social Problem: British Colurnbian Kewspaper Coverage of !$issing Chi1 dren , 1981-1591 / Author: - i / (signature)' Few issues have generated the level of public concern that was devoted to the missing children stlciaf problem during the decade kiween 1981 and 1991. This thesis examines the construction of this social problem through a content analysis and quditative documentary review of the Vancouver Sun and Province coverage of missing children cases over this eleven year period, with particular attention being paid to the effects of interest groups and their claims-making activities on the rise, fall, and eventual reemergence of the issue in both media and public discourse. This exploration of trends and transformations in missing children problem construction is informed by a model of argumentation first developed by Stephen Toulmin. Through a decomposition of textual constructions into their component parts, it becomes possible to examine both the sociocultural and factual aspects of social problems with which these arguments are linked, and to locate the grounds, warrants and claims that empower media narratives and establish reader interest. An application of these procedures to 338 assembled newspaper items on missing children in British Columbia revealed the importance of specific stranger abduction cases in generating sustained coverage. Against the backdrop of the 1981 Clifford Olson murders, dong with a number of high-profile child abductions occurring during the early l980s, strong elements of endangerment and concern emerged which came to infuse media depictions of subsequent disappearances. Yet by the late 1980s, the frequency of missing children articles began to diminish and content shifted towards abductions by parents and friends, as feelings of heat subsided, and as it beeme apparent that strmger abductions were a rare occurrence and most Enissing children were returning home safely. It was not until the 1991 disappeatance of Michael Dunahee, and his depiction in the media as an abducted chila that the issue once again attracted widespread interest. €herd, h.rorr& Gs exp!0:'2?ion of treads in the media coverage of missing &Urea czss over a eleven-year period in British Columbia, this thesis demonstrates the potential fur combining constructionist methodologies with structural analyses of print media text, for the purpose of analyzing the content, patterns and form of social problem arguments in the public culture. For my family. who have ah-ay, ken the main source of inspiration, hope and ability. To acknowledge and thank eveq-one whet contributed to thi~project ouid take up more space than the actual thesis. so I \%-illlimit myself to thanking the people ivho were most directly responsible for the finished project you see before you, First of all I would like to thank my Parents. Grandparents, and Beth for their love, underutanding and uuppm throughout the law four years. I would also like 1s thank Bob Menzies. Doug Cousineau. and Bill Glac-kman for their perseverance. co-operation and patience through the various stages of this project (which at times resembled Greek tragedy more than an academic pursuit). Thank you for showing me when "good enough" wasn't quite what you were looking for and encouraging me to go beyond my limited conception of this issue and see what other perspectives had to offer- Finaiiy, to Mike, joe, R.K.. fan. Kurt. Sody and hhn. Pat and Paid, and ihe L.G.C.. thank you for keeping things in perspective and reminding me that there is more to life than my research and assorted anxieties. & ............................................................................................ L TRe Emergence of the Child Victim ............................................. i The Depiction of Children by the Entertainment Media .................. 3- The Information& Co~tex:of Theas to Children.......................... 3 The Socid Science Constnrctionist Perspective of Social Problems ................................................... d Sumq.................... .... ........................................................ 4 f .Beyond "Objectivism" and "Consfmctionism": Rethinking me Constructionist Perspective of 5ociaI Problems ............. .... ................ 6 Introduction ..... ..... ............... .. ............................................... -6 What is a Socid ProbIem? ............................................................. 6 Tfie Dimensions of Socid Problems ............................................... 7 Objective Definirions and Their Limitations........... .. ................... '7 . Critmsms ...................................... .... ............................... 9 The Constmctionist Perspective of Social Problems ................ 10 The Critique of Consmctionism Offered by Woolgar and Pawluch ................................................................................ 11 Responses to Wodgar and Pawiuch ............................................ 12 a . ?viethodological. Caution. ............................................... 12 b.StrictConstrucUon!sm .................................................... 13 c . Contextual Constructionism ....................................... 14 Criticisms of iks Perspective ....................................................... 15 Moving Beyond Objectivism... and Constructionism....................... 16 Abandoning Empmcism............................................................... 16 Evolutionary Constructionist Analysis ..................................... 18 Theoretical fmp!ications of this Model ......................................... 22 -Model Being Used .................~.....~~.......~...~~~...............~..........~.....23 Grounds ................ ... .... ...........*................................**...... -24 - =- a. Definrrrons. ................................................................... 24 b . Typ~fyrngExamples ...................................................... 26 c . Incidence Estimates ...................................................... 26 Estimating rhe Extenr of the Problem............................... 27 Growfh Pmem ............................................................. -27 Range Claims................................................................ ~7m
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