The politics of child sexual abuse : emotion, social movements, and the state / Nancy Whittier.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

From rare perversion to patriarchal crime : feminist challenges to knowledge about incest in the 1970s -- The politics of the "therapeutic turn" : self-help and internalized oppression -- Social services, social control, and social change : the state and public policy in the 1970s and 1980s -- Going mainstream : self-help activism during the 1980s -- Diffusion and dilution : mass culture discovers child sexual abuse -- Turning tides : countermovement organizing, "false memory syndrome," and the struggle over scientific knowledge -- The politics of visibility : coming out, activist art, and emotional change -- The paradoxical consequences of success.

"As recently as 1970, child sexual abuse was seen as extremely rare and usually harmless. More than thirty years later, the media regularly covers child sexual abuse cases, many survivors speak openly about their experiences, and a thriving network of public and private organizations seek to prevent child sexual abuse and remedy its effects. This is the story of these dramatic changes and the activists who helped bring them about." "The Politics of Child Sexual Abuse is the first study of activism against child sexual abuse, tracing its emergence in feminist anti-rape efforts, its development into mainstream self-help, and its entry into mass media and public policy." --Book Jacket.