99-123 Doc

Culture and the Politics of Signification: 
The Case of Child Sexual Abuse.
(Studies in Violence and Welfare)

Social Problems
02/1996

Beckett, Katherine

Social problems may be framed in a number of ways, and social actors often struggle to imbue discussions of these issues with different meanings and associations (Edelman 1988; Gamson 1992; Gamson and Modigliani 1987; Gamson and Lasch 1983; Gusfield 1981; Hilgartner and Bosk 1988). While these symbolic contests have been the subject of much research, topics characterized as "valence issues" are seen as immune from such contestation. Valence issues are defined as those which elicit "a single, strong, fairly uniform emotional response and do not have an adversarial quality" (Nelson 1984:27; see also Campbell et al. 1966; Stokes and DiIulio 1993). In contrast, "position issues" are those that engender "alternative and highly conflictual responses" (Nelson 1984:27). This distinction is used for both descriptive and explanatory purposes, as analysts often attribute the absence of conflict to the valence quality of the issue itself.

This article suggests that the conceptual distinction between valence and position issues obscures the role of ideological struggle in generating social controversy, as well as the complex and contradictory nature of culture that makes these efforts possible. The multiplicity of images, themes, and sentiments also makes possible the creation of entirely new interpretive frameworks through which social issues may be apprehended. Both the presence and absence of struggles over the signification, then, are best understood as the product of agency. This argument is illustrated by an analysis of media discourse on what has been called a "preeminent valence issue" (Nelson 1984:27): child sexual abuse.

Like other valence issues, this social problem is not characterized by defenders and opponents; there is no "pro-child abuse" lobby. The framing of this issue has nonetheless been vigorously contested in recent years, and public discourse on the issue is clearly characterized by the existence of "alternative and highly conflictual responses." While all participants in this conversation condemn "true" cases of abuse, they nonetheless seek to imbue the topic with very different sets of meanings and associations. The vigorous and often adversarial debate over the meaning and significance of claims of abuse indicates that so-called valence issues may also be subject to contestation.

The first section of this article explores the distinction between valence and position issues and describes the development of child abuse as a public problem and media topic. Next, I use frame analysis techniques to identify and measure the media careers of the various "frames" that give meaning to this issue. The results of this analysis indicate that the once-dominant image of child sexual abuse as a denied and under-reported social problem has been superceded by alternative issue frames that depict claims of abuse as highly dubious. Finally, I explain this transformation in terms of sponsor activities, media practices, and cultural resources and consider its implications for the conceptualization of culture and social problem careers.

Valence and Position Issues

The distinction between valence and position issues has its origins in election campaign and voting research (Campbell et al. 1966). This literature suggests that often politicians attempt to garner support "by taking different positions on a policy question that divides the electorate" (i.e., position issues) (Stokes and DiIulio 1993:6-7; Campbell et al. 1966:170). The rise of "valence politics," however, has changed this practice. Since valence issues are characterized by the near universal approval or disapproval by the public (Stokes and DiIulio 1993), their ascendance leads candidates and parties to compete by identifying or distancing themselves from the issue in question rather than by staking out alternative positions (Campbell et al. 1966). The ascendence of "valence politics" thus helps to explain the increased volatility of the electorate and the convergence of the two main parties: When a candidate is successfully linked with a negative valence issue, or when a rival successfully becomes the "owner" of a positive one, that candidate's popularity may plummet quickly and dramatically.

Used in this manner, the distinction between valence and position issues is quite useful. For example, electoral success in the current political context is clearly linked to candidates' ability to convince the electorate of their support for "tough" anti-crime policies (Beckett 1994; Gordon 1990; Reinarman and Levine 1989; Savelsberg 1994; Scheingold 1986), and the "valence" quality of this issue undoubtedly helps to account for the convergence of the two main parties with respect to the crime issue (Beckett 1994). Thus, the notion that some issues are characterized by consensus rather than conflict is useful for analyzing political dynamics in particular historical moments. On the other hand, the conceptual distinction between position and valence issues may mask the extent to which an issue's valence quality is the result of ideological work. Issues characterized by valence qualities in one historical context may, under certain circumstances, become adversarial or conflictual in another. As we shall see, the issue of sexual abuse has undergone such a transformation.

Child Abuse and Valence Politics

Social scientists analyzing the emergence and representation of the child abuse issue have highlighted its valence quality (Nelson 1984) and, more generally, the largely consensual nature of attitudes toward it (Best 1990). For example, while Nelson notes that "the political culture of America supports a variety of often contradictory ideals, making the un-ambiguous, uniformly affirmed valence issue relatively rare," she nonetheless concludes that "child abuse is certainly a valence issue" (1984:28). According to Nelson, it is the valence (i.e., consensual) quality of the child abuse issue that explains the rapid adoption of child abuse reporting laws by all 50 states between 1963 and 1967 (1984).

At the same time, Nelson's analysis illustrates that the development of policy aimed at preventing and treating child abuse became highly controversial in subsequent years. In the early period immediately following the "discovery" of child abuse, discussions of the issue emphasized the deviant nature of extremely violent individuals who beat their children and ignored the social conditions that might be related to this social problem (Nelson 1984; Pfohl 1977). The passage of the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act in 1974 depended upon this "classless" construction of the child abuse problem: Senator Mondale warned that any effort to link the issue to social problems such as poverty and unemployment would lead to the bill's demise (Nelson 1984). Similarly, policymakers were careful not to construct the problem as one of "unequal power within the family" (Nelson 1984:127). Nelson's analysis, thus suggests that the passage of the child abuse reporting laws depended upon policymakers' willingness to frame the child abuse issue in a way that occluded considerations of social class or gender.

In his analysis of contemporary concern about "threatened children," Best (1990) also documents both the consensual nature of concern about child-victims and the growing controversy around the issue of child abuse. Best argues that the image of children as vulnerable to harm intentionally inflicted by others has taken precedence over all other depictions of children (Best 1990:6). Since the "discovery" of (physical) child abuse and "battered child syndrome," he argues, society has experienced waves of concern - even panics - about various threats to children, such as kidnapping, murder, abuse, neglect, and incest. A coalition of claimsmakers, including parents, feminists, professionals, and government officials, has expanded the domain of the "parent concept" - physical, non-sexual child abuse - to include other related problems such as child neglect and mistreatment, Halloween poisonings, and sexual abuse. Because these efforts draw on the culturally salient image of the "child-victim," Best argues, they have been quite successful. As domain-expanding activities continued, however, consensus regarding what constitutes child abuse has broken down: "As the boundaries expanded, controversy grew" (Best 1990:82). For example, reformers' attempts to define spanking as physical abuse was not well-received because spanking is not considered problematic by most Americans. Best concludes that "while there might be consensus about the core images of child abuse, the problem's periphery featured active debates about what should be considered abuse" (1990:83).

In sum, while Best and Nelson call attention to the valence quality of the child abuse issue, their empirical analyses also demonstrate that discussions of issues involving harm to children may become controversial. This apparent paradox is fairly easily resolved: Child abuse, like crime, is a valence issue in the sense that no known groups or individuals identify themselves as "pro-child abuse." At the most general level, then, these issues are characterized by a shared agreement that child abuse is a bad thing. The existence of this consensus, however, does not prevent the development of a sharp controversy over the causes of abuse (e.g., Nelson 1984), the definition of abuse (e.g., Best 1990), and, more recently, over the meaning and nature of abuse claims and the means by which they are generated. The fact that issues as emotionally charged as child sexual abuse may be hotly contested indicates that its "valence" quality does not have much explanatory value. Instead, it is sponsors' ability to frame issues in ways that exclude or highlight the "debatable" dimensions of the topic that is crucial.

The Emergence of Child Sexual Abuse as a Social Problem

Child abuse did not receive a significant degree of attention in the United States until the 1960s. Private child-protection specialists and the American Humane Society facilitated this "discovery" by highlighting the problem of child neglect in the 1950s (Nelson 1984), but it was pediatric radiologists with X-rays documenting extensive damage to children's limbs who catapulted the issue of physical child abuse to the front pages (Nelson 1984; Pfohl 1977). In the late 1940s doctors attributed children's broken bones, bruises, and other injuries to "internal medical causes," but by the early 1960s they were diagnosed as evidence of "battered child syndrome" (Pfohl 1977).

By 1962 the Children's Bureau was highly involved in the issue of physical child abuse, and physicians played a leading role in the determination of "steps which could be taken to control child abuse" (Nelson 1984:42). One of the bureau's first policy recommendations was the development of a model child abuse reporting law. With the help of the mass media, which paid particular attention to the most brutal instances of abuse, public concern about abuse grew dramatically (Nelson 1984). Between 1963 and 1967, all states and the District of Columbia passed legislation mandating that teachers, doctors, and other professionals report suspected child abuse to authorities (Nelson 1984). In an effort to make these laws more consistent, the federal government passed the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) in 1974 requiring that states adopt a uniform definition of abuse in order to qualify for federal monies. Federal authorities specifically mentioned "sexual abuse" when listing the types of behaviors that constituted abuse. As a result of these reporting laws, the number of cases of suspected abuse - both physical and sexual - reported to authorities has increased dramatically (Finkelhor 1990; Nelson 1984), and more of these cases enter the legal system every year (Myers 1993).

As was discussed earlier, advocates of CAPTA quite self-consciously adopted a narrow construction of child abuse that ignored the social and economic conditions associated with child abuse(1) (Nelson 1984). At the same time, this legislation identified sexual abuse as a category of behavior about which the government was concerned. The inclusion of sexual misconduct in the federal government's definition of abusive behaviors was largely the result of the claimsmaking activities of feminists, psychologists, and social workers (Weisberg 1984). While feminist concern about child abuse grew out of a larger critique of patriarchal family arrangements and sexual violence, mental health professionals offered a less political analysis of the issue. These professionals viewed "sexually inappropriate" behavior as a symptom of a distorted family homeostasis and advocated treatment and family counseling (Weisberg 1984). These differences aside, the inclusion of "sexual abuse" as a category of behavior covered by CAPTA undoubtedly contributed to increased reports and was an important precondition for the development of public awareness of the issue (Finkelhor 1990; Myers 1993).

Media coverage of the issue of sexual abuse gradually increased throughout the 1970s, but it was not until the 1980s that significant media attention was accorded this topic. Following the arrests of 24 alleged members of a "sex ring" in Jordan, Minnesota, in late 1983 and the emergence of the McMartin Preschool case in March 1984, media interest in the topic increased dramatically.

Methods and Issue Packages

In what follows, "frame analysis" techniques are used to identify the culturally available issue frames that shape discussions of child sexual abuse and to trace each of their careers in the mass media. Issue frames consist of discursive elements organized into what William Gamson calls "interpretive packages" (1992; Gamson and Modigliani 1987; Gamson and Lasch 1983). These "packages" consist of linguistic and symbolic resources that make sense of and give meaning to one or more aspects of social issues such as child sexual abuse. This methodology is thus primarily concerned with the cultural images and associations different issue packages create and connote. In addition, by identifying the "signature elements" of all culturally available issue frames and enumerating the frequency with which their components appear in the mass media, the prominence and fate of each package in public discourse may be traced (Gamson 1992; Gamson and Modigliani 1987; Gamson and Lasch 1983). It is important to note that issue packages do not reflect the objective structure of the discourse on child abuse, but are heuristic devices used to describe representations of this issue (Gamson and Modigliani 1987).

Identification of Child Sexual Abuse Issue Packages

In order to identify all culturally available packages, I analyzed a wide range of specialized publications. These included materials produced by various grass-roots associations (such as the North American Man-Boy Love Association, Victims of Child Abuse Laws, the Incest Survivors Network, and the False Memory Syndrome Foundation), as well as articles appearing in specialized journals such as The Nation, Society, and The Family Networker and more mainstream magazines. On the basis of these materials, three main culturally available issue packages were identified.

The "core frame" and "core position" of each culturally available child sexual abuse package are described below, as are the "reasoning devices" that justify each of them. These devices include a causal analysis of the issue in question, appeals to principles contained within the package, and an assessment of policy consequences. Other devices used to suggest a frame include: exemplars (events that illustrate a key point); catchphrases (thematic statements or slogans that suggest a particular frame); and depictions (characterizations of relevant subjects). These signature elements make up the "signature matrix" of the various issue packages (see Gamson and Lasch 1983:399-401).

For two of the three cultural packages, I also identified "sub-packages," or variants of the parent package. These sub-packages share the position and frame of their parent package and are thus largely consistent with its analysis and imagery. Typically, however, these sub-packages identify a different "root" problem, make different (but not incompatible) policy recommendations, and entail somewhat distinct imagery from their parent package. The packages and sub-packages are described and summarized in Table 1.

Child Sexual Abuse Issue Packages(2)

Positive Pedophilia. The hysteria around child abuse is a symptom of an outdated approach to sexuality; our Victorian legacy is what informs opposition to adult-child sexual relations. Children are sexual beings and should "be given the liberty to run their own lives as they choose, including the ability to determine how and with whom they should have sex" (Rhodes 1988:294). Children often seek and initiate sexual relations with adults. Adult-child sexual relations are therefore not necessarily exploitative or traumatic, but may be helpful to or empowering for children: "A childhood sexual experience, such as being the partner of an older person, need not necessarily affect the child adversely" (quoted in Time, April 14, 1980:72). Our sexual prudishness does not give the state the right to deprive children of their sexual freedom or to harass those who have unpopular sexual preferences.

Collective Denial. Society denies the reality of child sexual abuse. Children are uniquely vulnerable victims, and, contrary to some claims, are not able to give informed consent. Because recognizing this reality would force us to rethink some of our most cherished institutions and bring us face to face with the dark side of human nature, the truth about child abuse is resisted. The fact that well-respected and socially prominent persons perpetrate this crime threatens our collective sense of security and is therefore particularly disturbing. Claims of abuse have been denied for too long as a result of our unwillingness to face this unpleasant reality. Both children and adults are likely to downplay or hide these painful experiences rather than exaggerate or make up stories of abuse. The problem is therefore under-reporting, not over-reporting. Our unwillingness to face the reality of child abuse means that violations of children rarely make it into the criminal justice system, and when they do, justice is not typically served.

Male Prerogative. This explicitly feminist version of Collective Denial emphasizes the fact that it is overwhelmingly men who are responsible for sexual assaults against children (and women). The widespread nature of child sexual abuse is seen as a consequence of male dominance and socialization: "Men, in learning to become men, learn that they have the right to be sexually and emotionally serviced by women; they learn that their power can ensure that this happens; and that in order to feel like a man, they have to feel powerful" (MacLeod and Saraga 1987:24). Reports of abuse by women and children are easily dismissed as "hysteria" in patriarchal culture. It is only by challenging male dominance both inside and outside the home that the problem of child sexual abuse will be diminished.

Survivors Speak. A second Collective Denial sub-package focuses on the viability of repressed and recovered memories of abuse. Because "the child [often] forgets because remembering is simply too painful" (Newsweek, October 7, 1991:71), memories of abuse often surface during adulthood. The memories of incest, ritual abuse, and all child abuse survivors must be treated respectfully rather than dismissed as the result of suggestion, fantasy, or delusion. Denying their validity and attacking therapists who help to uncover them is simply another means by which the reality of sexual abuse is denied. Because the tragedies of incest and child abuse are perpetuated by silence and denial, it is crucial that adult survivors of abuse speak out and that the reality of their experiences be affirmed.

False Accusations. While no one condones child abuse, concern about child sexual abuse now borders on hysteria. The pendulum has swung too far as panicky parents, intrusive child protective workers, over-zealous therapists, and assorted "victims" cry "abuse." Accusations are made all too easily and cannot be accepted at face value. Both children's and adults' perceptions and memories are fallible and vulnerable to suggestion, and the methods used to uncover these are highly suspect. Furthermore, a "culture of abuse" now exists in which children may use allegations of abuse to gain power over adults and in which adults assume that mental distress must be the consequence of "abuse." The consequences of being wrongly accused have destroyed many innocent people's lives. Protections must be built into the system in order to prevent the harm caused by unfounded accusations.

Official Misconduct. In this False Accusations sub-package, child protective personnel, prosecutors, social workers, and therapists are depicted as part of a "child abuse industry." This industry operates on the basis of the "presumption of guilt" and has eroded parental rights and authority. Most disturbing is the absence of due process and the use of unsound techniques by child welfare personnel. Children will attempt to please social workers and others who "want" to hear that they have been abused. The use of suggestive interviewing techniques has therefore produced a raft of unfounded allegations.(3) False allegations are also common in custody battles; these cases further illustrate the importance of enhancing procedural and legal protections within the child welfare bureaucracy, family courts, and criminal justice system.

False Memories. The focus of this False Accusations sub-package is the falseness of adult survivors' "recovered" memories of abuse, the role of mental health professionals in creating these memories, and on the fallibility of memory/perception in general. "Memories" of incest and abuse recovered during adulthood provide a raison d'etre for therapists and a simple explanation for complex problems and symptoms. "Memories" of ritual or satanic abuse are particularly dubious and thus illustrate the fallibility of memory. Laws that allow for the inclusion of "repressed" and "recovered" memories of abuse in civil and criminal trials are unsupported by empirical evidence demonstrating the validity of the concept of repression, and they have led to the unnecessary destruction of many innocent lives.

Content Analysis

While frame analysis techniques seek to elucidate the meaning systems available for talking about social issues, content analysis generates more specific information about the content of media stories. I therefore used content analysis to obtain data regarding the descriptive characteristics of persons involved in incidents of abuse described in the media. Specifically, information regarding perpetrators (age, gender, and identity/occupation) and victims (age and gender) of abuse was recorded. In addition, the identity of persons recounting their personal experience with abuse or accusations of abuse was noted. These data supplement the results of the frame analysis and will be considered in the discussion.

Identifying Relevant Media Items

Four leading news magazines were selected for analysis: Time, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, and People Maqazine.(4) The Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature was used to identify all stories pertaining to the issue of child sexual abuse. Because the categorization of such stories changed over the past several decades, locating them was somewhat complicated. Before 1976, articles that focused on what might now be called child abuse were indexed under "cruelty to children," and only a very few of these discussed adult-child sexual relations. Between 1976 and 1980, "child abuse" emerged as a separate category; stories about both sexual and physical abuse appeared under this heading. Some stories discussing adult-child sexual relations were also indexed under "incest" during this period. After 1981, most items that focused on child-adult sexual relations appeared in the new category "child molestation," although some continued to be listed under "incest".(5) In 1992, "False Memory Syndrome" appeared as a separate category, and 1994 saw the emergence of "ritual abuse" as a distinct heading, although only one story was indexed here.

In sum, stories that focused on adult-child sexual relations, were indexed under "child molestation," "child abuse," "incest," "False Memory Syndrome," or "ritual abuse," and appeared in any of the four selected magazines between 1970 and 1994 were analyzed. The number and content of such articles is depicted in Table 2. Twenty-nine articles on child sexual abuse were listed in the Reader's Guide before 1980, but none of these articles was published in the four newsmagazines selected for analysis. The 103 articles analyzed here appeared in the selected magazines between 1980 and 1994.

Measuring Package Prominence and Sponsorship

The following procedure was used to trace the media careers of the child sexual abuse packages and sub-packages. First, displays of any of the "signature elements" that characterize the packages and sub-packages were identified in the news stories. Next, these signature element displays were coded according to which package they signified. For example, a statement such as "the reality of child sexual abuse has been ignored for too long. . ." would be coded CD (Collective Denial). (A single article might display signature elements of various issue packages and sub-packages). Third, the number of displays of each package and sub-package was enumerated and tabulated by year. The results of this frame analysis thus identify the media career of each of the issue packages and sub-packages, and are presented in Table 3.

The content analysis of the incidents of abuse and testimonials describing experiences of abuse/allegations of abuse proceeded as follows. First, the victims and offenders described in the media stories were categorized according to their age (as children, including adolescents, or adults) and their gender (male, female, or both(6). Data were also compiled regarding the identity/occupation of the offender (stranger, neighbor, religious figure, teacher, babysitter/day care worker, or family member). This information is depicted in Table 4. Second, the identity of persons providing testimonials regarding their personal experience with abuse or allegations of abuse(7) are categorized as one of the following: victim of abuse, relative/sympathizer of victim of abuse, victim of false accusations, perpetrator of abuse (admitting guilt). These results are summarized in Table 5.

The Transformation of Media Discourse and Child Sexual Abuse

1980-84

Collective Denial was clearly the dominant frame in the 24 articles that appeared between 1980 and 1984. In general the focus of these stories was on the recent discovery of the "hidden problem" of child sexual abuse, the pain that victims of such abuse endured, and the need to raise our collective consciousness regarding the prevalence of this problem. In May 1984, for example, Newsweek ran a cover story titled "A Hidden Epidemic: Sexual Abuse of Children is Much More Common than Most Americans Suspect." The article emphasized the widespread nature of child sexual abuse and lamented that "few offenders will be reported to any authority; fewer still will be punished" (May 14, 1984:30). During this period, claims of abuse were understood as valid indicators of a previously ignored social problem. Despite the prominence of Collective Denial during this period, the feminist version of this package (Male Prerogative) was depicted very rarely.

Positive Pedophilia was also largely absent from articles appearing in the early 1980s, except for a single article analyzing the victims of "sex researchers" who espoused this perspective. Interestingly, though, the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature indicates that this particular item was the last in a series of such articles published in less mainstream magazines and journals. It therefore appears that the few depictions of Positive Pedophilia found in this early sample of media items are indicative of a brief and fairly circumscribed appearance of this cultural package in public discourse. Indeed, many of the early sponsors of Collective Denial specifically sought to refute the notion that adult-child sexual relations could be benign or positive for children by asserting that children cannot give informed consent.

As Table 4 suggests, much of the media coverage during this early period focused on allegations of abuse in day care settings: One-third of all of the offenders described in incidents of abuse were babysitters or day care workers. This focus helps to account for the fact that a relatively high proportion of alleged offenders were female or mixed groups of men and women. A few articles presented the testimonials of adult incest survivors (see Table 5), but the longer and more sensationalistic stories published during this period focused primarily on abuse in day care settings.

1985-1990

The situation changed fairly dramatically after 1984. False Accusations began to appear more frequently in newsmagazine coverage in 1985; between 1985 and 1990 this frame and its sub-package, Official Misconduct, displaced Collective Denial as the dominant way of framing discussions of sexual abuse. Thus, only eight months after declaring that child sexual abuse was an under-reported and "hidden epidemic," Newsweek provocatively titled another article on the subject: "The Youngest Witnesses: Is There a Witch Hunt Mentality in Sex Abuse Cases?" (February 18, 1985:82). Controversy around day care cases, some of which involved charges of ritual abuse, grew between 1985 and 1990. Increasingly, these allegations and the methods used to elicit them were identified as problematic.

The question of how to understand and interpret children's allegations of abuse was highly contested during this period. Early on, sponsors of Collective Denial argued that "There is no shred of evidence that children lie about sexual assault" (Newsweek, February 18, 1985:83) and cited studies that found that "children are telling the truth more than 95% of the time" (Newsweek, October 9, 1987:41). Later in this period, these sponsors made somewhat more cautious statements: "Children can lie, but research shows that they do not fabricate detailed descriptions of adult sexual acts . . ." (People, January 1990:76).

By contrast, sponsors of False Accusations emphasized children's suggestibility or propensity to lie or fantasize about abuse. One article reported that "the fantasies of some youngsters are causing nightmares for innocent adults" (U.S. News and World Report, April 1, 1985:66), while another reported that "children are insidious, practiced liars" (People, July 8, 1985:27). Others suggested that children "falsify on purpose to get revenge against a parent or teacher who disciplined them or to support one side in a custody dispute" (Newsweek, September 16, 1985:43). Assertions of children's suggestibility, such as the following, were even more common: "Children, particularly those that have been extensively coached, give inaccurate testimony far more often than previously imagined" (Time, March 4, 1991:76). Sponsors of Official Misconduct emphasized the role of "the system" in generating false allegations of abuse: "Officials have encouraged suggestible youngsters to tell tales" (Newsweek, September 16, 1985:43), or, more dramatically, "the increased determination by authorities to uncover child sexual abuse has had less than wholesome consequences: a raft of false charges that devastate the lives of those accused" (Time, May 11, 1987:49). This emphasis on "the system's" role in generating false allegations is a central feature of Official Misconduct and largely accounts for its appearance during this period.

While day care cases continued to be a central focus, the proportion of stories describing incidents of incest increased dramatically in the late '80s (see Table 4). Familial offenders were increasingly common in reported incidents of abuse; most of these were fathers or stepfathers. As Table 5 further indicates, a new, corresponding genre of testimonials appeared during this period: Relatives of victims of abuse (predominantly mothers of girls abused by their fathers) described their frustration at the court's unwillingness to protect children from familial abusers and their consequent decision to take their children "underground."

Testimonials by fathers claiming to have been falsely accused provided a rival interpretation of these accounts, although these were not as numerous as mothers' stories. On the other hand, fathers' reports were supported by expert and media claims that many, if not most, allegations of abuse made in the context of custody disputes were false: "A significant portion of the increase [in the reported number of sex abuse allegations], in fact - and most of the false allegations - come in the vindictive climate of custody battles" (Newsweek, November 13, 1989:99). Some further specified that "some wives use false accusations as a weapon of last resort" in custody cases (Time, May 11, 1987:49).

In sum, the period from 1985-90 saw the emergence and ascendance of False Accusations and its sub-package, Official Misconduct. These packages were used to signify two dimensions of the child sexual abuse issue. First, claims of abuse in day care settings were increasingly likely to be depicted as the consequence of children's propensity to lie, parents' tendency to panic, or the use of suggestive interviewing techniques. Second, claims of abuse in custody cases became highly controversial during this period. A series of articles presenting the stories of mothers "on the run" depicted the judicial system as insensitive to the reality of familial abuse, while testimonials by fathers challenged the legitimacy of such abuse claims. Assessments of the validity of allegations of abuse were central to both of these discussions, and sponsors of alternative packages offered conflicting interpretations of them.

1991-94

After 1991, familial abusers remained prominent, but the plight of adult incest and abuse survivors became the primary focus. Celebrities such as actress Roseanne Barr, LaToya Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, and former Miss America Marilyn Van Derbur shared their experiences of incest/abuse and urged others to "break the silence." One article representative of this genre was titled "The Pain of the Last Taboo: For Many Survivors of Incest, Struggling With Suppressed Memories is the Hardest Battle of All" (Newsweek, October 7, 1991:28). While adult survivors of extra-familial abuse also related their experiences during this period, most of those sharing their stories identified themselves as victims of incest.

Table 6 depicts the careers of the various packages by year for the period from 1991 to 1994. For a short time, Collective Denial and its sub-package, Survivors Speak, dominated the newsmagazine coverage: These packages were depicted in 82 percent of all package displays in 1991. These stories emphasized the horror of incest and the need to speak out about it and treated the assertion that "most often, the child forgets because remembering is too painful . . ." as non-controversial. This emphasis on the validity of once-hidden memories of abuse and the importance of affirming them was central to Survivors Speak.

The relatively uncontested nature of incest-survivor reports, however, was short-lived. Between 1992 and 1994, Collective Denial and Survivors Speak were superseded by False Accusations, and in particular by the emerging False Memories sub-package. From 1992-1994, False Accusations and its sub-packages were depicted in 73 percent of all package displays. The emergence and ascendance of False Memories during this period was particularly dramatic: While this sub-package was largely absent from the media prior to 1992, it comprised 39 percent of the total package displays in 1993 and 65 percent of all package displays in 1994. This sub-package emphasized the unreliability of repressed memories of abuse, as well as the damage that was done to families and wrongly accused persons as a result of false accusations, and was thus a rebuttal of the key claims of Survivors Speak. Titles of articles depicting these elements include "Lies of the Mind," "Memories Lost and Found," "Misty Watercolored Memories," "Was It Real or Memories?", "Dubious Memories," and "You Must Remember This: How the Brain Forms False Memories."

As Table 4 indicates, the majority of incidents described during the early 1990s involved familial offenders - and for the first time, virtually none involved day care workers. The sharp rise in the proportion of stories involving religious figures reflected increased attention to sexual abuse perpetrated by priests. Offenders mentioned in these incidents were increasingly likely to be male (the focus on fathers and priests helps to account for this). Victims (especially those claiming to have been molested by priests) were also more likely to be male and adult at the time the article was written. As Table 5 indicates, persons recounting their own experiences were largely adults identifying themselves as survivors of abuse and adults (mostly fathers) claiming to have been falsely accused of abuse.

Summary

The results of this analysis suggest that the framing of media discussions of child sexual abuse changed dramatically over the past 15 years. While Collective Denial dominated the early coverage of this topic, False Accusations and, more recently, False Memories, have emerged as the dominant way of interpreting claims of abuse. Indeed, these packages now clearly overshadow Collective Denial and Survivors Speak. How can the rise and fall of the various issue packages be explained? Following Gamson (1988), three main factors that help to explain the shifting discourse on child sexual abuse are described below. These include the activities of claimsmakers or sponsors of the various packages, media practices, and cultural resonances. In addition, social actors' capacity to create and mobilize new issue packages is analyzed.

Accounting for the Changing Image of Child Sexual Abuse

Sponsor Activities

Collective Denial was largely displaced by False Accusations and Official Misconduct in the mid-1980s, while Survivors Speak was superseded by False Memories in the 1990s. These shifts reflect, in part, the political mobilization of sponsor groups advocating and mobilizing alternative issue frames, for as Gamson and Modigliani (1987:165) point out, "changing culture is the product of enterprise." Sponsors do not merely advocate cultural packages; they often take concrete steps in their efforts to disseminate and legitimate them. These "definitional" or "claimsmaking" activities include making speeches, writing articles and pamphlets, holding news conferences, and lobbying legislators and other policymakers.

One of the first organized sponsor groups, Victims of Child Abuse Laws (VOCAL), was created in 1984 by parents claiming to have been falsely accused of child abuse. VOCAL now has chapters across the country and sits "on many government task forces and committees throughout the United States and Canada" (Wimberly 1994:49). One of the main tasks of this organization is to "put a human face on the falsely accused and to bring about an understanding that false allegations are every bit as damaging . . . as the tyranny of incest" (Wimberly 1994:49). VOCAL's critique centers on the "presumption of guilt" and absence of due process protections in cases involving allegations of abuse, the unprofessional nature of child protective practices, and the fact that "children today know that to cry abuse holds a threat over parents and caretakers. . . . a threat that can be used as a weapon against any adult-contrived structure that they dislike" (Wimberly 1994:56). VOCAL advocates reform of the child protection system in order to protect the rights of the accused, and improvement of the techniques used by child protection personnel. The emergence and mobilization of this organization helps to account for the appearance of Official Misconduct between 1985 and 1990.

The next wave of claimsmaking activity was conducted by high profile celebrities, incest survivors, and domestic violence organizations. As was discussed earlier, these sponsors paid particular attention to intra-familial abuse. They also argued that since repression is a common mechanism by which survivors cope with their abuse, legislation allowing the admission of recovered memories of abuse in civil cases should be adopted. A few identifying themselves as adult survivors sued their alleged perpetrators, and in some states (especially Washington) these cases received a great deal of publicity.

It was in this context that Survivors Speak was largely displaced by False Memories. In 1992, parents claiming to have been falsely accused and assorted "scientific experts" (mainly psychiatrists and psychological researchers) formed a new organization called the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF). As is suggested by the results presented earlier, this organization has been particularly successful in resignifying the issue of child abuse through the creation and mobilization of False Memories. This success stems, in part, from the fact that the FMSF identified influencing media coverage as its most important objective (Freyd 1994). In sum, the shifting representation of the issue of child sexual abuse can be partially explained in terms of the mobilization of sponsor groups and their definitional activities. Conversely, the absence of (suitable) groups sponsoring either Positive Pedophilia or Male Prerogative contributed to their weak performance in media discourse.

Media Practices

Media practices also have an important impact on public discourse. One of the most important of these for representations of child sexual abuse is journalists' prioritization of drama and novelty. A now-famous memo sent from NBC executive Reuven Frank to his staff gave expression to these values: "Every news story should, without any sacrifice of probity or responsibility, display the attributes of fiction, of drama" (cited in Epstein 1973:271). In the competition to attract media consumers, the dramatic - emotional, conflictual, and human interest - aspects of social problems are crucial (Hilgartner and Bosk 1988). These values undoubtedly heightened the media's interest in both victims of abuse and the wrongly accused. Advocates of the False Memories package, for example, have used testimony to highlight the pain of the falsely accused, and in so doing, have attracted significant media attention to their cause.(8) The fact that Collective Denial and False Accusations typically identify an individual victim (of either abuse or of false accusations) may mean that these packages are more able than Positive Pedophilia to satisfy the media's interest in the dramatic and conflictual. Similarly, Male Prerogative's focus on the systemic causes of abuse may contribute to its disfavor among journalists.(9)

The media's related interest in novelty may also be relevant. The ideal story contains a new angle or twist that helps it retain its dramatic edge. Both sponsors and media personnel constantly seek new ways of presenting issues in order to inject a sense of urgency in their discussions of them (Hilgartner and Bosk 1988). The ebb and flow of the Collective Denial and False Accusations packages and associated sub-packages can be partially explained in terms of the media's attempt to avoid saturation. While this emphasis on novelty would also appear to work in favor of Positive Pedophilia and Male Prerogative, this has not been the case, for several reasons.

The first has to do with the relative status of potential media sources. It is clear that some sponsors are accorded greater legitimacy by media personnel than others. Becker (1967:241) called attention to these "hierarchies of credibility" when he argued that news workers accord those at the top of status hierarchies greater legitimacy and authority. High ranking "moral entrepreneurs" therefore enjoy greater access to the media. This particular media practice helps to account for the ability of celebrities to promote the Collective Denial frame by telling their stories of abuse. Similarly, the dramatic ascendance of the False Memories package between 1992 and 1994 may also have been facilitated by the status and authority of many of the academic and professional sponsors of this frame.

By contrast, advocates of Positive Pedophilia and Male Prerogative are relatively marginal by contemporary cultural standards. While some academic researchers promoted the former sub-package in the 1970s, by the 1980s these sponsors had been largely replaced by "fringe" organizations such as the North American Man-Boy Love Association. And while one might expect domestic violence organizations to promote Male Prerogative, most of these offered more psychological and less political interpretations of the issue; it was primarily "radical" feminist organizations that sponsored this package. Thus, the media's tendency to accord those at the top of the status hierarchies greater legitimacy helps to account for the presence of some issue packages and the absence of others.

Cultural Themes and Resources

Issue packages often resonate with larger cultural themes, and those that do so with relatively salient themes have an advantage over those that do not (Gamson and Modigliani 1987). For example, Collective Denial resonates with the now-prevalent cultural image of the child-victim (see Best 1990). False Accusations accords with discourses that highlight the rights of the accused and the autonomy of the family vis a vis the state. Conversely, Male Prerogative's identification of patriarchy as a cause of sexual abuse does not appear to have much cultural salience in this "post-feminist" era. However, not just the resonance of the themes invoked, but the credibility of their connection to the particular issue at hand is relevant. For example, Positive Pedophilia draws on the quite salient discourses of individual rights and sexual liberation, but in the context of discussions of adult-child sexual encounters these themes do not appear to resonate with many. This may reflect the emergence of the image of the child-as-victim and a cultural consensus regarding children's vulnerability to exploitation by adults(10) (Best 1990).

The extent to which family members are depicted as offenders may also have an impact on the framing of child sexual abuse. It is interesting to note that the rise of False Accusations and its sub-packages since 1985 corresponds with an increased emphasis on familial offenders. While a causal connection between these developments cannot be confirmed, an emphasis on the threat posed to children by dangerous "outsiders" may afford greater opportunities for the solidaristic processes identified by Durkheim. Conversely, to the extent that offenders appear as "insiders," discussions of sexual abuse may become more disruptive of social solidarity and therefore troubling. It is possible, then, that the emerging focus on familial offenders provided VOCAL and FMSF activists with an important set of psycho-social resources and helps to explain the rise of False Accusations and False Memories in media discourse.

In sum, the extent to which frames resonate with salient cultural themes helps to explain the ability or inability of sponsors to contest the signification of child sexual abuse and other social issues. As Gamson points out, however, cultural themes cannot be invoked without also suggesting their "countertheme" (Gamson and Modigliani 1987). The point is not that all cultural themes are equally salient, or that one theme may not be dominant at a given historical moment, but that cultures are profoundly ambivalent (Dirks, Eley, and Ortner 1994). For example, while the cultural image of the "child-victim" is currently quite salient (Best 1990), this image exists alongside a darker, more suspicious view of children as "insidious, practiced liars." As Hall (1988) put it, social objects are always "multi-accentual:" They can be discursively rearticulated to construct new meanings, connect with different social practices, and position subjects differently.

It is this cultural complexity that makes the "disarticulation" and "rearticulation" of issue frames possible. These terms refer to the severing, realignment, and recombination of discourses; it is through these processes that ideological transformation occurs (Hall 1988). The emergence of False Memories in the early 1990s illustrates the capacity of social actors to create new discursive syntheses in the course of struggles over signification. The False Memory sub-package, for example, represents a new and creative synthesis of (late) Freudian ideas regarding the impact of fantasy and suggestion on memory,(11) a critique of the lack of professionalism of mental health clinicians, and an emphasis on the rights and plight of the wrongly accused. Advocates of this perspective thus appropriated bits and pieces of pre-existing discourses and reconfigured these in an unprecedented way in their attempt to imbue discussions of child sexual abuse with an alternative and often competing meanings.

Conclusion

Sponsor activities, media practices, and cultural themes, resources and innovation help to account for shifts in the framing of media discussions of child sexual abuse. These shifts reflect the activities of sponsors who promote highly discrepant interpretations of allegations of abuse, and they seek to imbue discussions of the issue with very different meanings and associations. Discussions of this issue clearly satisfy Nelson's description of so-called "position" issues: They are characterized by "alternative and highly conflictual responses" and by the "presence of strong lobby groups favoring opposing policy solutions"(12) (Nelson 1984:27).

This analysis of media discourse on child sexual abuse, then, suggests that even those issues around which there is a degree of consensus may be subject to quite vigorous contestation. Challengers of Collective Denial regularly confirmed their concern about "true" abuse, but this requirement in no way prevented them from creating and mobilizing quite distinct ways of framing the issue. The characterization of topics as either "valence" or "position" issues obscures actors' capacity to challenge dominant ways of framing even emotionally charged issues as well as the complex and ambiguous nature of culture that makes such achievements possible. By examining the process and results of this symbolic struggle, this analysis reminds us of the importance of agency and meaning-construction in accounting for both the presence and absence of contests over signification.

Please direct correspondence to: Beckett, The University of Michigan, Department of Sociology, 3012 LSA Building, Ann Arbor, MI. The author would like to thank Kathleen Daly, Steve Herbert, Theodore Sasson, and several anonymous reviewers for their assistance.

1. Over time, state legislatures reinforced the connection between child abuse and social class, race, and gender by broadening the statutory definitions of abuse/neglect and by adding protective custody clauses. Support for child protection policies waned as these laws led to the adoption of welfare rather than public health programs, and as the issue's link to familial authority relations was highlighted (see Nelson 1984:135-137).

2. My use of the term "child sexual abuse" itself reflects a particular issue package: The use of this term is an implicit rejection of Positive Pedophilia, which holds that only some adult-child sexual encounters are abusive.

3. The coding of assertions of children's suggestibility depended upon its attribution of blame. Statements that attributed children's false claims of abuse to either their propensity to lie/fantasize about abuse or to parental "hysteria"/suggestions were treated as displays of False Accusations. Those that attributed children's false claims to the interviewing techniques of prosecutors, social workers, therapists, and criminal justice personnel - members of the "child abuse industry" or the "system" - were treated as displays of Official Misconduct.

4. Newsmagazine articles were analyzed because "hard news" coverage in newspapers and on television tended to focus on specific cases, and, as a result, displayed fewer signature elements of the various cultural packages. Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World Report were selected because they are the largest newsmagazines; People was also included in the interest of examining a more entertainment-oriented medium.

5. Stories that were indexed under "incest" but focused on intra-familial adult sexual relations were not analyzed.

6. This category was relevant in some cases involving multiple defendants/offenders.

7. These testimonials were distinguished from reported incidents of abuse by the reporter's use of interviewing techniques and the presence of the interviewees own account of the incident. Stories in which more than one descriptive statement came from the participant her- or himself was treated as a "testimonial."

8. According to Pamela Freyd, executive director of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, the FMSF encouraged parents claiming to have been falsely accused to tell their stories to the media in order to shift attention to the plight of the wrongly accused (Freyd 1994).

9. Indeed, there is evidence that media personnel are more likely to frame social issues in individualistic rather than systemic terms, and that this framing has important consequences for viewers' assessments of these issues (Iyengar 1991).

10. The existence of such consensus - and the dangers of violating it - are revealed by a recent incident involving a member of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation. Ralph Underwager, early supporter and member of the board of directors of FMSF, was encouraged to "resign" from the board after he described pedophilia as a "responsible choice for the individual" in an interview with the Dutch journal Paidika: The Journal of Paedohilia (Fried 1994).

11. Advocates of both Survivors Speak and False Memories sometimes invoke Freudian ideas. The former draw on Freud's early work, which relied on the concept of repression and highlighted the widespread and devastating nature of incest. In contrast, advocates of False Memories draw on those writings that followed Freud's renunciation of his view that his female client's reports of incest were descriptions of real events. This "late" Freud reinterpreted these reports as projections of unconscious desires and feelings, and thus highlighted the impact of fantasy on memory. This reversal has itself become the object of much controversy (see Masson 1992).

12. Examples of such policy disagreements include the debates over the evaluation of children's testimony, the practice of permitting children to testify outside the courtroom, and the admission of "recovered" memories of abuse in civil and criminal trials.

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