NCJ Number
151062
Date Published
1994
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This analysis of television depictions of child sexual abuse through documentaries and docudramas concludes that although television has increased public awareness of the existence of child sexual abuse and incest, the result has been sensationalism often accompanied by a tragic and inadvertent revictimization of the figure of the survivor.
Abstract
These television programs generally focus on the ramifications of sexual abuse on the child and the family. The programs are often well intentioned, but they do not result in an increased body of specific knowledge that can aid in the prevention or working through of the problem. One such program is the 1990 documentary titled Child of Rage: A Story of Abuse. This program constructs a narrative that inadvertently reveals the need of contemporary American culture to view the problem in personal and moral terms, so that the burden of collective social, political, or economic responsibility and intervention is more easily avoided. Instead of this approach, television should eliminate the formulaic narrative frames and take part in an intervention of witnessing, education, and prevention that can make a genuine difference in the lives of children at risk.