For more than 30 years, child advocates have worked at the national, state and local levels to bring the issue of child abuse and neglect to the forefront of the public’s attention. Thanks to these public education and awareness efforts, the field has successfully increased public awareness of the issue to over 90 percent today. However, advocates have struggled with effectively educating the public about the importance of prevention and motivating positive behavior change.
As a result, in 2003 PCA America took on a strategic frame analysis of child abuse and neglect with the FrameWorks Institute, and its partners, Cultural Logic and Public Knowledge. This section highlights the current communications challenges the field faces, an explanation of framing theory, the research conducted and a summary of key findings. More information about strategic frame analysis is available at the FrameWorks Institute’s website, www.frameworksinstitute.org.
An Overview of Existing Opinion Research Discipline and Development: A Meta-Analysis of Public Perceptions of Parents, Parenting, Child Development and Child Abuse, Meg Bostrom, President, Public Knowledge LLC, May 2003
Interviews with Citizens Two Cognitive Obstacles to Preventing Child Abuse: The “Other Mind” Mistake and the “Family Bubble,” Axel Aubrun, Ph.D. and Joseph Grady, Ph.D., Cultural Logic, August 4, 2003
Focus Groups Developing Community Connections: Qualitative Research Regarding Framing Policies, Meg Bostrom, Public Knowledge LLC, August 2003
Analysis of Frames in Use and in the News How the News Frames Child Maltreatment: Unintended Consequences, Axel Aubrun, Ph.D. and Joseph Grady, Ph.D., Cultural Logic, August 22, 2003
PCA America White Paper #1 Reframing Child Abuse and Neglect for Increased Understanding and Engagement: Defining the Need for Strategic Reframing, Kevin Kirkpatrick, Prevent Child Abuse America, 2004
PCA America White Paper #2 Reframing Child Abuse and Neglect for Increased Understanding and Engagement: Research Findings & Their Implications, Kevin Kirkpatrick, Prevent Child Abuse America, 2004
*Strategic Frame Analysis is an approach developed by Susan Nall Bales of the FrameWorks Institute in partnership with UCLA's Center for Communications and Community.
