Crime on TV Shortcuts  Tags: criminal_justice crime criminal_law  

Your class recently watched the Frontline film "Did Daddy Do It?" about the handling of cases of alleged sexual abuse of children by daycare providers in the 1980s.  You are now tasked with doing your own research on the handling of the cases by searching for articles, statistics and other cases.  These sources will help you in your research. 

You might want to start your research by learning more about the "Did Daddy Do It?" program.  PBS has more information on "Did Daddy Do It?" on their website.  PBS has also linked to some reactions from the press to the program. 

Citing your sources is one of the most important steps in doing research.  RefWorks will allow you to store and organize your citations as well as easily create your annotated bibliography and final paper in APA style.  

• RefWorks - use this to organize your citations.

You can search for media coverage in several of the Library's news databases including:

• Expanded Academic ASAP - Scholarly journals, news magazines, and newspapers in all disciplines.
• General OneFile - News and periodical articles on a wide range of topics.
• Newspaper Source - Selected full text for regional, national (U.S.) and international newspapers; full text television & radio news transcripts.
• ProQuest Newspapers - Includes full-text coverage of major national newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and NY Times, as well as Massachusetts newspapers including the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Quincy Patriot Ledger and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

You can find other news sources under the "Find News Articles" on the Library's homepage.

It can be difficult to know where to start when searching for statistics. If you think about who might be interested in either gathering or using the statistic it will be easier to come up with the agency or group that has it. The following sources might help you find statistics on child sex abuse cases:

• Massachusetts Community Health Information Profile (MassCHIP) - Community-level data to assess health needs, monitor health status indicators, and evaluate health programs.
• Center for Disease Control – Gateway to statistics about Child Maltreatment.
• Child Welfare Information Gateway – Prevalence Statistics Gateway.
• National Criminal Justice Reference Center - Clearinghouse for criminal justice statistics.
• Bureau of Justice Statistics - Gateway to various crime statistics.

You might also find mention of statistics in newspaper and magazine articles. Once you know the source (it's usually quoted) you can track it down.

LEXIS-NEXIS Academic - Search for case law and find full-text documents from over 5,600 news, business, legal, medical, and reference publications with a variety of flexible search options.