In Making an Issue of Child Abuse: Political Agenda Setting for Social Problems, Barbara Nelson outlines how child abuse evolved from a condition to a social issue and from a social issue to a public policy concern. Using child abuse as a case study, Nelson presents a new perspective on the political agenda setting process in the U.S. The overarching theme of the text lies in how political agendas for social issues can and are set. In the text, Nelson successfully achieves her objectives of uncovering and examining how individuals became concerned about child abuse and how they rallied their organizations to react; however, due to the fact that the information and research presented is dated and there have since been new developments, there
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Congress. Each of these political agenda setting arenas were key players in the push to make child abuse a public policy concern and each of them played majors roles. For example, the Children’s Bureau, albeit it was unplanned according to Nelson, got the ball rolling on research into the development of a model statue that addresses child abuse; this was the first step in seriously considering legislation formulation that addressed the issue. The media also had a hand in setting the agenda by providing state and federal government agencies the benefit of sustained coverage of the issue. State legislatures got involved by passing laws pertaining to reporting. Finally, Congress played a huge role through the strong leadership of Senators who introduced legislation to fund research and programs. Now that roughly 32 years have passed, the roles that these entities play and the attitudes of the general public pertaining to child abuse have …show more content…
The content of Nelson’s book is related to this course in several different ways. This course, titled Legal Policy in Victim Services, focuses on issues pertaining to the rights of victims’ of crime, while emphasizing the development and growth of victim’s rights in the legal system. Nelson does just that; she addresses how changes in social issues are brought about through political agenda setting. The social issue in this case is child abuse, which is a form of crime victimization. She documents the history of child abuse policy in the U.S, how it developed and evolved, and how (child) victim’s rights grew as a result. This course also requires that students analyze legislation and legal policies pertaining to victim’s services. Nelson’s book assists in helping students do this by providing in-depth look into several polices regarding child victims, such as the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. Lastly, the course is designed to equip students with tools to address the process of changing attitudes. Nelson also did this by illustrating how activists utilized different mediums to incite change in the perception of child abuse as a social issue, rather than a private matter. Nelson’s text is also connected to other course materials, like New Directions from the Field:
Congress. Each of these political agenda setting arenas were key players in the push to make child abuse a public policy concern and each of them played majors roles. For example, the Children’s Bureau, albeit it was unplanned according to Nelson, got the ball rolling on research into the development of a model statue that addresses child abuse; this was the first step in seriously considering legislation formulation that addressed the issue. The media also had a hand in setting the agenda by providing state and federal government agencies the benefit of sustained coverage of the issue. State legislatures got involved by passing laws pertaining to reporting. Finally, Congress played a huge role through the strong leadership of Senators who introduced legislation to fund research and programs. Now that roughly 32 years have passed, the roles that these entities play and the attitudes of the general public pertaining to child abuse have …show more content…
The content of Nelson’s book is related to this course in several different ways. This course, titled Legal Policy in Victim Services, focuses on issues pertaining to the rights of victims’ of crime, while emphasizing the development and growth of victim’s rights in the legal system. Nelson does just that; she addresses how changes in social issues are brought about through political agenda setting. The social issue in this case is child abuse, which is a form of crime victimization. She documents the history of child abuse policy in the U.S, how it developed and evolved, and how (child) victim’s rights grew as a result. This course also requires that students analyze legislation and legal policies pertaining to victim’s services. Nelson’s book assists in helping students do this by providing in-depth look into several polices regarding child victims, such as the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. Lastly, the course is designed to equip students with tools to address the process of changing attitudes. Nelson also did this by illustrating how activists utilized different mediums to incite change in the perception of child abuse as a social issue, rather than a private matter. Nelson’s text is also connected to other course materials, like New Directions from the Field: