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Advocating new Directions
Child Abuse & Neglect 52 (2016) 47–48
Advocating new Directions Jill D. McLeigh ∗ Donald C. Bross University of Colorado School of Medicine, United States a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Available online 11 January 2016
Directions first appeared in Child Abuse & Neglect in the December issue of 2013. In that first Directions section, we included an explanation of we hoped it would accomplish. These goals included creating “attractive” articles in a more reader-friendly and engaging format and presenting alternative points of view. In particular, we wanted to ensure a global perspective, with particularly emphasis on hearing from the majority world. Indeed, as stated in the introduction to the first Directions section, we wanted to demonstrate that there are many different ways to address child maltreatment in low- and middle-income countries which “may ironically result in creation of more responsive, less intrusive, and more cost-effective models for prevention and treatment.” We expected that most of the Directions essays would be informed by science, and we hoped that we could encourage more exchanges and communications ∗ Corresponding author. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.12.004 0145-2134/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
among diverse disciplines and communities from across the globe. In keeping with our interdisciplinary approach, the last Directions section under our editorship directly and indirectly considers the role of the arts in changing population awareness and framing of the problems of child maltreatment. The three articles included in this section provide an introduction to the need for and value of work that makes explicit the way literature – from classics to comics – addresses societal problems (in this case, child abuse and neglect). Works of literature can not only help us to understand how societal norms and views on children and childhood have change over time, but they also have the potential to help us create settings conducive to the prevention of maltreatment and that are supportive to children after maltreatment has occurred. In How Literature Changes the Way We Think, Michael Mack wrote: Literature not only represents to us our world, but it also shows us ways in which we
Child Abuse & Neglect 52 (2016) 47–48
can change the world or adapt to changes which have already taken place without our realization. Literature’s cognitive dimension helps us cope with the current as well as future challenges by changing the way we think about ourselves, our society, and those who are excluded from or marginalized within our society. Indeed, there is much to be learned from literature about aspects of society and culture that contribute to abuse and neglect and that either help or hinder recovery once abuse or neglect has occurred. Although works of fiction and studies of what they have to tell us about abuse and neglect may not be as scientific as random clinical control trials, such “nonscientific” efforts can create large-scale, population-based change. One need only consider the power of the sanitarian movement of the early 19th century to see how this can happen. Based on a belief that there was a miasmic (e.g., noxious) source for disease, these individuals pushed for clean air, clean water, and clean surroundings as a strategy to prevent the spread of disease. This belief led to the spread of physical hygienic practices, ranging from the simple washing of hands to the development of comprehensive sewage systems. Although their theory was later disproven by the contagionists, who developed the scientifically valid germ theory of disease, the way to address both notions of the spread of disease was the same. Thus, before Louis Pasteur’s work, and many decades before the first antibiotic, there were dramatic decreases in death and illness resulting from infection virtually everywhere sanitation was implemented. A lot of things happen notwithstanding, in spite of, or even foreshadowing scientific discoveries. In this vein, the three articles appearing in this last Directions section review the potential influence of literature to raise awareness of child maltreatment and to encourage changes in the way we view and treat children. One of the
48
articles involves a content analysis of the hero theme in comic books. Another reviews youth literature and provides insights on the experiences of maltreatment and the child protection system from the perspectives of children and their communities. The third presents an analysis of two classics of American literature and reveals both the normalization of child abuse and neglect in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries and the dawning themes of heroic resilience in the child protagonists of these classic books. Even more obvious and popular current examples of the power of representing abused, orphaned, and rejected children as having heroic potential are found in the books about Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling and the “insurrectional” books of Roald Dahl (e.g., Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; The Witches; James and the Giant Peach). These forms of art offer a sampling of what large populations in the world are learning and thinking about child maltreatment, and thus perhaps changing attitudes and behaviors toward childhood and children, even as they are being entertained. In closing, we have tried to be innovative and “cutting edge” in our editing of Directions. We did not anticipate the brand new book Human Rights in Children’s Literature: Imagination and the Narrative of Law, which we received notice of as we were going to press. We think that readers of this Directions might also find it of interest (even perhaps, an example of predictive validity).
Suggestions for Further Reading Mack, M. (2012). How literature changes the way we think. New York, NY: Continuum. McLeigh, J. D., & Melton, G. B. (2013). In pursuit of new Directions. Child Abuse & Neglect, 37, 1052–1055. Pizzi, R. A. (2002). Apostles of cleanliness. Modern Drug Discovery, 5(5), 51–55.
Advocating new Directions Jill D. McLeigh ∗ Donald C. Bross University of Colorado School of Medicine, United States a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Available online 11 January 2016
Directions first appeared in Child Abuse & Neglect in the December issue of 2013. In that first Directions section, we included an explanation of we hoped it would accomplish. These goals included creating “attractive” articles in a more reader-friendly and engaging format and presenting alternative points of view. In particular, we wanted to ensure a global perspective, with particularly emphasis on hearing from the majority world. Indeed, as stated in the introduction to the first Directions section, we wanted to demonstrate that there are many different ways to address child maltreatment in low- and middle-income countries which “may ironically result in creation of more responsive, less intrusive, and more cost-effective models for prevention and treatment.” We expected that most of the Directions essays would be informed by science, and we hoped that we could encourage more exchanges and communications ∗ Corresponding author. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.12.004 0145-2134/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
among diverse disciplines and communities from across the globe. In keeping with our interdisciplinary approach, the last Directions section under our editorship directly and indirectly considers the role of the arts in changing population awareness and framing of the problems of child maltreatment. The three articles included in this section provide an introduction to the need for and value of work that makes explicit the way literature – from classics to comics – addresses societal problems (in this case, child abuse and neglect). Works of literature can not only help us to understand how societal norms and views on children and childhood have change over time, but they also have the potential to help us create settings conducive to the prevention of maltreatment and that are supportive to children after maltreatment has occurred. In How Literature Changes the Way We Think, Michael Mack wrote: Literature not only represents to us our world, but it also shows us ways in which we
Child Abuse & Neglect 52 (2016) 47–48
can change the world or adapt to changes which have already taken place without our realization. Literature’s cognitive dimension helps us cope with the current as well as future challenges by changing the way we think about ourselves, our society, and those who are excluded from or marginalized within our society. Indeed, there is much to be learned from literature about aspects of society and culture that contribute to abuse and neglect and that either help or hinder recovery once abuse or neglect has occurred. Although works of fiction and studies of what they have to tell us about abuse and neglect may not be as scientific as random clinical control trials, such “nonscientific” efforts can create large-scale, population-based change. One need only consider the power of the sanitarian movement of the early 19th century to see how this can happen. Based on a belief that there was a miasmic (e.g., noxious) source for disease, these individuals pushed for clean air, clean water, and clean surroundings as a strategy to prevent the spread of disease. This belief led to the spread of physical hygienic practices, ranging from the simple washing of hands to the development of comprehensive sewage systems. Although their theory was later disproven by the contagionists, who developed the scientifically valid germ theory of disease, the way to address both notions of the spread of disease was the same. Thus, before Louis Pasteur’s work, and many decades before the first antibiotic, there were dramatic decreases in death and illness resulting from infection virtually everywhere sanitation was implemented. A lot of things happen notwithstanding, in spite of, or even foreshadowing scientific discoveries. In this vein, the three articles appearing in this last Directions section review the potential influence of literature to raise awareness of child maltreatment and to encourage changes in the way we view and treat children. One of the
48
articles involves a content analysis of the hero theme in comic books. Another reviews youth literature and provides insights on the experiences of maltreatment and the child protection system from the perspectives of children and their communities. The third presents an analysis of two classics of American literature and reveals both the normalization of child abuse and neglect in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries and the dawning themes of heroic resilience in the child protagonists of these classic books. Even more obvious and popular current examples of the power of representing abused, orphaned, and rejected children as having heroic potential are found in the books about Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling and the “insurrectional” books of Roald Dahl (e.g., Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; The Witches; James and the Giant Peach). These forms of art offer a sampling of what large populations in the world are learning and thinking about child maltreatment, and thus perhaps changing attitudes and behaviors toward childhood and children, even as they are being entertained. In closing, we have tried to be innovative and “cutting edge” in our editing of Directions. We did not anticipate the brand new book Human Rights in Children’s Literature: Imagination and the Narrative of Law, which we received notice of as we were going to press. We think that readers of this Directions might also find it of interest (even perhaps, an example of predictive validity).
Suggestions for Further Reading Mack, M. (2012). How literature changes the way we think. New York, NY: Continuum. McLeigh, J. D., & Melton, G. B. (2013). In pursuit of new Directions. Child Abuse & Neglect, 37, 1052–1055. Pizzi, R. A. (2002). Apostles of cleanliness. Modern Drug Discovery, 5(5), 51–55.