Threatened Children: Rhetoric and Concern about Child-Victims

by Joel Best

Child abuse, incest, child molestation, Halloween sadism, child although clearly not new problems, they have attracted more attention than ever before. Threatened Children asks why. Joel Best analyzes the rhetorical tools used by child advocates when making claims aimed at raising public anxiety and examines the media's role in transmitting reformers' claims and the public's response to the frightening statistics, compelling examples, and expanding definitions it confronts. Drawing on a wide range of sources, from criminal justice records to news stories, from urban legends to public opinion surveys, Best reveals how the cultural construction of social problems evolves.

Genres: Sociology, Politics, Parenting

239 pages, Hardcover

First published December 15, 1990

Reviews

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long before Qanon there were activists in the 1970s and 1980s warning that thousands of children go missing every year, many of them kidnapped by psychos who rape, abuse and murder them. As Best documents, that wasn't true: most missing children were runaways, most returned home, but promoting the worst case scenarios as the norm, activists could demand someone Do Something.
This book looks at how the claims about children were made, penetrated the mainstream awareness and became all-consuming, and why they were accepted.
The Qanon delusion shows Best, writing in 1990, was wrong to assume these fears had peaked and passed. I also wish he'd discussed why the factors he think contributed — rising crime rates, instability in the society — didn't have the same impact in the 1930s despite the Depression and the rise of organized crime. Even so it's fascinating, though very dry

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read Joel Best’s articles for work, and was so pleased that he approaches writing sociology so clearly and accessibly. This book is from 1990 but has SO MANY parallels to today’s climate where there is a frenzy of fear over children reading books about race or queerness.

[Ivan Campos · Rating 5 out of 5]

An insightful read into how stakeholders create arguments to bolster their claims in order to successfully sway their audience. Creating something out of thin air is an art...What the media presents may not always be the truth...