Research has shown that child abduction is a major
problem in our society, the vast majority of young children are
susceptible, and that abductions may be prevented by teaching
children to resist enticements. The goal in this study was to teach
children, upon being enticed by stranger, to say "No, I have to go
ask my teacher" and then to quickly run away. The experimenter wanted
to evaluate the effectiveness of a 20-minute interactive videotape
program that was specially designed to teach children these behaviors
in a school setting. She selected for subjects students in first
grade classes at an elementary school, all of whom participated with
parental consent.
In the Experimental condition, children viewed the interactive
video; in the Control condition, children viewed a cartoon of equal
duration having nothing to do with child abduction.
A Generalization Probe tested what each child would do in a
potential abduction situation. While the children were silently
working on their math homework, a new student teacher removed the
children from class, individually, under the pretense of
participating in sports. The student teacher pretended to forget
something and left the child alone in the school yard. A stranger
approached the child, made small talk, and then attempted to lure the
child into his car by promising treats. When the stranger walked away
(with or without child), the student teacher called out the child's
name and the stranger moved quickly out of sight. The child was then
returned to class. The roles of student teacher and stranger were
played by graduate students of the experimenter.
For purposes of data analysis, a score of zero was given if a
child went with the abductor, a score of one if the child stayed
nearby with no refusal, a score of two if the child stayed nearby but
verbally refused, a score of three if the child ran away with no
refusal, and a score of four if the child ran away and verbally
refused.
Related Source: Poche, Yoder, &
Miltenberger, 1988
