The Social Construction of Child Abuse in Ireland: Public Discourse, Policy Challenges and Practice Failures

2020 ◽  
pp. 55-74
Author(s):  
Caroline Shore ◽  
Fred Powell
Keyword(s):  
Child Abuse ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
The Social

The social construction of child abuse in Ireland: public discourse, policy challenges and practice failures

2020 ◽  
pp. 55-74
Author(s):  
Caroline Shore ◽  
Fred Powell
Keyword(s):  
Child Abuse ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Original Analysis ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Media ◽  
Childcare Policy

Irish child abuse inquiries of the last few decades have been hugely significant in revealing the tragic circumstances under which some children lived and died. The main focus here is on what these inquiries reveal about errors and mistakes in child protection and the changing relations between a number of key institutions, particularly the Catholic Church, the state and the media, not on what they reveal about abuse. Through the ‘lens’ of the child abuse inquiry the chapter considers a number of issues, including: the exposure of historic child abuse of children in Irish society, the emergence of campaigning groups, the growing power of the media in exposing a culture of secrecy, and the development of childcare policy. The chapter then explores the wider context (political, cultural, and historical) in which discourses of child protection are framed and conducted. The chapter addresses discrete meta-themes that enable the reader to contextualise the debate about child abuse and theorise it from a critical social perspective. This offers a uniquely original analysis of discourses of child protection, incorporating policy development and messages for the future.

The Social Construction of a Secure, Anonymous Electronic Payment System: Frame Alignment and Mobilization around Ecash

1998 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 273-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Payment System ◽  
Security And Privacy ◽  
Discursive Practice ◽  
Electronic Payment ◽  
Frame Alignment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Electronic Payment System

This paper examines public discourse in order to illuminate the processes by which issues of anonymity, surveillance, security, and privacy are integrated into public understandings of, and interactions with, consumer payment systems. Using theories of the social construction of technology, and Gamson's model of issue construction, it analyses the issue package deployed by the developer of the Ecash electronic payment system. An issue package is a set of framing devices which focus and constrain discussion of a particular issue. The paper then analyses three different discursive sites (print media, US Congressional deliberation, and an electronic mailing list) to gauge the success of that package, according to its presence and its resonance within each site. Using theories of frame alignment and social mobilization, the package is identified as a globalizing framing strategy. Its failure is explained by the difficulties a frame of such structure will have in meshing with the discursive practice of each site, in resonating with cultural themes of each site, and in provoking social action.

Gang in translation: Official and vernacular representations of a “Roma” drug gang in Czechia

2021 ◽  
pp. 174165902110179
Author(s):  
Petr Kupka
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Street Gangs ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Official Discourse ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
The Social ◽  
Similarities And Differences

This study focuses on the social construction of gangs in Czechia. Although the country is not usually associated with the activities of street gangs, the adoption of gang representations is evident in this context, including the use of the gang label itself. In order to capture the gang glocalization process, I employ the concept of translation, whereby glocalization is conceptualized as a complex process of the transposition of symbols based on the constant assessment and negotiation of the formed equivalent in the new discursive context. This approach allows us to understand the similarities and differences between how gangs are labelled not only across various cultural contexts, but also within them, with a honed analytical focus on the discursive strategies of the actors being studied. The concept of glocalization as translation is illustrated using the example of the Novák collective operating in a marginalized urban area in Czechia. While official discourse characterized this collective as an international drug gang, this construction was entirely absent in the discourse employed by the residents of the area. This discrepancy explains the gang construct within Czech public discourse as an equivalent of organized and sophisticated crime which automatically excludes certain ethnic groups by definition.

Ritual Abuse and the Moral Crusade against Satanism

1992 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 248-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey S. Victor
Keyword(s):  
Child Abuse ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Collective Behavior ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Ritual Abuse ◽  
Behavior Dynamics ◽  
The Social ◽  
Widespread Belief

This article addresses the research question: What accounts for widespread belief in allegations of “ritual” child abuse by satanic cults in the absence of any verifiable law enforcement or scientific evidence? The hypothesis is that allegations of ritual abuse are manifestations of the social construction of an imaginary form of deviance which is being promoted by a moral crusade against satanism. Events of a satanic cult ritual abuse scare in England are used to illustrate the collective behavior dynamics. The interpretation suggests that the activism of moral crusaders is a response to belief in frames for attributing meaning to an ambiguous problem, linked to shared concerns for fighting “evil” in society. The conclusion is that controversies surrounding claims about ritual child abuse can be best understood if they are investigated in the social context of the moral crusade against satanism.

Moral Panics and the Social Construction of Deviant Behavior: A Theory and Application to the Case of Ritual Child Abuse

1998 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 541-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey S. Victor
Keyword(s):  
Child Abuse ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Theoretical Analysis ◽  
Collective Behavior ◽  
Deviant Behavior ◽  
Moral Panic ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Moral Panics ◽  
The Social

The objective of the article is to develop a theory of the causes and transmission of moral panics. The theory is designed to explain forms of collective behavior, previously labeled panics, scares and persecutions. Part one of this article presents criteria for the identification of moral panics. Part two of the article offers models for analyzing the social conditions, which cause moral panics and lead to the social construction of definitions of deviance. Finally, part three examines the social processes by which moral panics are transmitted between different societies. In order to illustrate the theoretical analysis, the article presents information about the current moral panic involving criminal accusations of ritual child abuse by secret, satanic cults.

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