Moral Panic: Changing Concepts of the Child Molester in Modern America
by: Philip Jenkins

Softcover. New Haven CT, Yale University Press, 1st pbk, 1998, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 302 pages. Philip Jenkins argues that all concepts of sex offenders and offenses are subject to social, political, and ideological influences and that no particular view of offenders represents an unchanging objective reality. He examines the various groups (including mass media) who have been active in promoting particular constructions of the emerging problem, the impact of public attitudes on judicial and legislative responses to these crimes, and the ways in which demographic change, gender politics, and morality campaigns have shaped public opinion. While not minimizing sexual abuse of children, the book thus places reactions to the problem in a broad political and cultural context. Clean copy.