Familiar Strangers, Juvenile Panic and the British Press: The Decline of Social Trust

by James Morrison

Overview

This book argues that Britain is gripped by an endemic and ongoing panic about the position of children in society – which frames them as, alternately, victims and threats. It argues the press is a key player in promoting this discourse, which is rooted in a wide-scale breakdown in social trust.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349958450
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	10/10/2018
Edition description:	1st ed. 2016
Pages:	254
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dr James Morrison is an experienced journalist and university lecturer. He worked for a number of years as a reporter, first on local then national newspapers – including the Independent on Sunday. He has lectured in journalism and public affairs since 2003, and is currently senior lecturer in journalism at Kingston University, UK.

Table of Contents

1. Trust, Risk and Framing Contemporary Childhood.- 2. 'Worthy' Versus 'Unworthy' Children: Images of Childhood Through Time.- 3. Our Children and Other People's: Childhood in the Age of Distrust.- 4. Commercializing Distrust: Framing Juveniles in the News.- 5. 'Every Parent's Worst Nightmare': the Abduction of April Jones.- 6. Strangers No More: Towards Reconstructing Trust.- Bibliography.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This is a terrific book … More books like this – and a little less postmodernist theorising – would help us to understand more why societies more secure than they have ever been should feel so continuously on edge." (Chas Critcher, Swansea University, UK)

"A great read and an important contribution to our understanding of how anxiety towards young people mutates into the narrative of panic." (Frank Furedi, University of Kent, UK)

Editorial Reviews

"A great read and an important contribution to our understanding of how anxiety towards young people mutates into the narrative of panic." – Frank Furedi, University of Kent, UK

From the Publisher