http://www.preventchildabuse.org/about_us/reframing/downloads/memo.pdf
for future research

A Response to "Reframing the Issue: A New Child Maltreatment Prevention Message"

Becky Wrisely, Director of Communications for Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina, comments on campaigns that bring issues around child abuse and neglect to the awareness to the public. Since the 70's increased efforts have been made towards securing the safety of children. These early efforts and public campaigns have served well to illustrate the harm and devastation caused by child abuse and neglect. Unfortunately, these campaigns to raise awareness around CAN typically limited public education to the importance of reporting, representation of the most traumatic cases, and the general idea that child abuse and neglect "is a bad thing." These public campaigns have done well to raise awareness of the issues as well as have led to increased public systems and resources designed to support victims and families. However, the frame from which this awareness has developed has left little room for belief in prevention efforts; indeed, theses campaigns have hindered prevention efforts overall.

In this commentary Ms. Wrisely outlines the results of six focus groups and interviews that "were conducted to help determine the public’s frame of reference on child maltreatment
and neglect."

I have cut and pasted the results of this research:
"■ Americans picture the worse case scenario when asked to
describe child maltreatment. They believe child maltreatment
is intentional, extreme, perpetual, and most often done by a
parent dealing with issues such as substance abuse.
■ Most Americans perceive children and teens as rude, wild,
and without a strong sense of right and wrong. They believe
being a parent today is much harder than in years past;
however, most also believe that parents are doing a poor job
at raising their children.
■ A significant proportion of the public is misinformed about
child development, and many adults define appropriate
parental behaviors (e.g., picking up a three-month-old every
time they cry) as “spoiling.”
■ Americans believe that parenting is an extremely important
responsibility. However, the public believes few parents are
prepared for the responsibilities of raising children.
■ The public understands and believes that there are severe
consequences of child maltreatment and believes that children
who experience maltreatment will grow up to become abusive
parents themselves.7
■ Americans see child maltreatment as a very serious problem,
and they believe implementing prevention activities is
extremely important. However, they cannot clearly define
prevention, nor do they believe they can do anything to
truly affect child maltreatment."

Also, in partnership with the FrameWorks Institute the Prevent Child Abuse Organization cited research results that indicated that the majority of people's knowledge of child and abuse issues is based on media coverage. Unfortunately, what the media typically focuses on are again reports of the most heinous crimes against children involving disciplining, sexual misconduct, and failures of child protective service agencies. The frames established through this focus of the issue creates a considerable challenge for prevention.

The author suggests that concerned citizens and professionals developing materials and furthering campaign efforts have ineffectually worked from the idea that with enough information people will automatically change their behavior patterns. This belief is set forth despite that fact that a clear action steps have not been clearly mapped out.

The author outlines some general outlines that public campaign authors need to address to better prevent child abuse and neglect:

• educate the public about child abuse and neglect
• increase parent support in communities
• provide information campaigns to all types of parents, not just those likely to abuse
• focus on short term benefits e.g. stress management techniques
• build community responsibility for kids
• focus on the importance of families raising children
• raise awareness that parenting is a tough job that does not come naturally
• connect parent education and family support to situations that many families find themselves in (e.g. divorce, unemployment, stress)

(these bulleted points have been summarized from the authors writing and more closely reflect her wordage rather than my own).

http://ncmedicaljournal.com/sept-oct-05/Wrisley.pdf

Social Movement of Families

Last week I attended a conference in Seattle. Other attendees included state and national leaders who work towards implementing a new framework around services for supporting children and families. Together policymakers, service providers, researchers, the philanthropic community, and parent partners (like myself) engaged in conversation around a social movement gaining momentum across the United States.

This conference inspired several blogs around online networking techniques used to create national consensus in issues concerning early childhood education. Additionally, I look forward to learning ways that these techniques will result in a wealth of data which reflects the positive outcomes families experience as parents are considered critical partners in the development, implementation, and management of policies. However, now I would like to briefly highlight the work of the Marguerite Casey Foundation. Luz A. Vega-Marquis, the President and CEO of the foundation, provided a dynamic presentation at the conference discussing the foundations values, mission, and vision. The values of this philanthropic organization are diversity and anti-racism, equity, learning and growing, mutual respect and trust, stewardship, sustained connections, and transparency. http://www.caseygrants.org/

Ms. Vega-Marquis spoke quite a bit about the foundation's commitment of building a foundation to support a social movement. The foundation currently funds organizations in impoverished communities to bring together families at local town hall meetings. At these meetings families discuss social and economic barriers that they face. These conversations lead to the unveiling of rich a collective knowledge and unite families across race, discipline, and class. The collective knowledge will create a platform from which a united front of working class families will stand as their political campaign is kicked off at a mulitcity convention on September 6, 2008.

On the website www.equalvoice2008.org a visitor may view YouTube footage and observe the conversation process occurring at the town hall meetings. Users visiting this sight will find that they can endorse the campaign, sign up on an email listserve to receive more information, and share the sight address on a variety of social bookmarking sights linked to the webpage. Also, on the Build a Movement button the user has access to connect with other Marguerite Casey Grantees, see the work they've been doing, access online communication tools, and create or expand a media guide to add to the movements purpose. This website details past and upcoming town hall meetings, maintains a plethors of campaign materials for anyone to download and use. Also, the site houses a library of videos (26). In the video titled President Luz-Vegas Interview, the CEO of the foundation discusses the views of the foundation's commitment towards educating families about using technology as a means for staying involved and progressing the movement. Ms. Vegas discusses the mindfulness from which the foundation works which understands that many people are working 2 to 3 jobs and that they are tired at the end of the day and may still stay involved through their computers. Also, Ms. Vegas iterates that in many of the communities technology is still very limited where even phone access is not available.

I found this website surprisingly interactive. And I will return frequently, to be sure, in the next couple months for campaign materials, reference materials, etc. as I continue much similar work with children and families locally in Thurston county.

"To convulse the mass of the people and draw them actively into the public affairs, the impact of events must be direct and extensive upon the realms of privacy. They must disturb drastically the common way of life, as when able-bodied men are mobilized for war, or a city is sacked, or whole communities devastated by catastrophe. Not only must the effect penetrate private careers and separate households; it must appear to transcend private and customary remedies. It must, too, be so long-continued and cumulatively provoking that men lose hope of a natural return of their normal expectations (4)." The Method of Freedom, by Walter Lippman (1934).