Culture and the politics of signification: The case of child sexual abuse

Social problems and issues may be signified in a number of ways, and social actors often struggle to imbue discussions of social and political issues with different meanings and associations. However, same emotionally charged topics are characterized as ''valence'' issues and seen as immune from such contestation. This analysis demonstrates that the framing of one valence issue - child sexual abuse - in media discourse has undergone significant transformation. The ability of social actors to contest the construction of this issue highlights the complex and contradictory nature of culture, as well as the importance of agency and contextuality for social problem careers.