Australian Families of Missing People: Narrating Their Lived Experience

Abstract

Increasing numbers of Australians and people across the globe go missing each year and this has triggered an expression of national and international concern. Australia has been at the forefront in developing initiatives to combat this problem. People of all ages still go missing, and for the families of those who disappear, the loss is traumatic. Research on the families of long-term missing persons, to this point, has been limited. Therefore, familial experience is not well understood. Little is known of the trauma, loss and grief associated with a missing person within these families. This study provides initial empirical data, which examine the experience of families who have a long-term missing family member. In-depth interviews with sixteen family members and one friend revealed narratives of the experience of living with a person who has disappeared. Interview data were analysed using a narrative method, and three major themes emerged from the data. The first narrative component speaks about the universal experience of all families of missing persons. Within this, three themes are presented: the common elements, the cost factor and the coping. The second narrative explores the known outcomes, that is, where families have a definite outcome. Within these definitive outcomes, there are two possibilities: expected outcomes and unexpected outcomes. The third discusses the unknown outcomes: the threads of lost and found and the long-term missing are explored in addition to the continuing relationship with the missing person.