Table of Contents

Introduction: n 1 From Rare Perversion to Patriarchal Crime: Feminist Challenges to Knowledge about Incest in the 1970s 2: The Politics Of The "Therapeutic Turn": Self-Help and Internalized Oppression n 3 Social Services, Social Control, and Social Change: The State and Public Policy in the 1970s and 1980s 4: Going Mainstream: Self-Help Activism During the 1980s 5: Diffusion and Dilution: Mass Culture Discovers Child Sexual Abuse 6: Turning Tides: Countermovement Organizing, "False Memory Syndrome," and the Struggle Over Scientific Knowledge 7: The Politics of Visibility: Coming Out, Activist Art, and Emotional Change 8: The Paradoxical Consequences of Success Conclusion: References:

About the Author

Nancy Whittier is Professor of Sociology at Smith College. She is the author of Feminist Generations and co-editor of Feminist Frontiers and Social Movements: Identity, Culture, and the State.

Reviews

"The Politics of Child Sexual Abuse offers a significant contribution to understanding the ongoing public issue of sexual abuse that will be of interest to a wide readership, and particularly to scholars of political culture, gender and sexuality, and social movement theory." --American Journal of Sociology
"In a single book, Nancy Whittier overturns all conventional wisdom about why sexual abuse became such a contentious public issue. Battles over incest, repressed memory, and clergy abuse are not moral panics, she shows, but a collective therapeutic activism that challenges existing forms of knowledge and control. The Politics of Child Sexual Abuse sets out a bold, new direction that is essential reading for all scholars of political culture and
social movements." --Kathleen Blee, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of Pittsburgh
"Relying on interviews with a range of activists, along with documentary evidence of various types, Nancy Whittier provides a convincing explanation for the transformation of child sexual abuse in America since 1970. An engaging and balanced examination of this highly charged topic, The Politics of Child Sexual Abuse skillfully negotiates treacherous terrain in a fashion that respects all sides. This book is a highly original work and one of the best
studies of child sexual abuse in the last twenty-five years." --Ross E. Cheit, Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, Brown University
"The Politics of Child Sexual Abuse is an ambitious book that demonstrates the payoff of theoretical synthesis and careful empirical research. Whittier integrates the latest advances in thinking about social movements, the state, and gender politics in order to develop a comprehensive and compelling account of activism around child sexual abuse. This book will challenge analysts to rethink the intersection of politics, culture, and activism, as well
as the relationship between social movements and their impacts."--Debra Minkoff, Professor of Sociology, Barnard College, Columbia University
"Nancy Whittier has given us a powerful account of how the movement against child sexual abuse has unfolded over the past 40 years. Knowing our history--recording and preserving it--is essential if we are to learn from it. The Politics of Child Sexual Abuse is the story of how activists have changed their own lives and the larger world. At a time when public discourse often simplifies or dismisses this movement, Whittier tells our history in a way that
advances deep understanding of the issue."--Ellen Bass, co-author of The Courage to Heal