Calling Attention to an Overlooked Problem

The rediscovery process is set in motion whenever activists begin to raise the public’s consciousness about some type of illegal situation that “everybody knows” happens but few have cared enough to investigate or try to correct. These moral entrepre- neurs, who lead campaigns to change laws and win people over to their point of view, usually have first- hand experience with a specific problem as well as direct, personal knowledge of the pain and suffering that accompany it. Particularly effective self-help and advocacy groups have been set up by parents who endured the ordeal of searching for their missing children, mothers whose children were killed in col- lisions caused by drunk drivers, and the families of offi- cers slain in the line of duty, among others. Additional individuals who deserve credit for arousing an indiffer- ent public include the targets of hate-driven bias crimes, adults haunted by the way they were molested when they were young, women brutally raped by acquaintances they trusted, and wives viciously beaten by their husbands. They called attention to a state of affairs that people took for granted as harmful but shrugged off as “What can anyone do about it?” These activists responded, “Things don’t have to be this way!” Exploitative and hurtful relationships don’t have to be tolerated—they can be prevented, avoided, and outlawed; governmental policies can be altered; and the criminal justice system can be made more accountable and responsive to its “clients.”

As Stage 1 moves along, activists function as the inspiration and nucleus for the formation of self- help groups that provide mutual aid and solace and also undertake campaigns for reform. Members of support networks believe that only people who have suffered through the same ordeal can really understand and appreciate what others just like them are going through (a basic tenet borrowed from therapeutic communities that assist substance abusers to recover from drug addiction).

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Activists also state that victims’ troubles stem from larger social problems that are beyond any individual’s ability to control; consequently, those who suffer should not be blamed for causing their own misfor- tunes. Finally, activists argue that recovery requires empowerment within the criminal justice process so that victims can pursue what they define as their own best interests, whether to see to it that the offender receives the maximum punishment permitted by law, is compelled to undergo treatment, and/or is ordered to pay their bills for crime-related expenses.

To build wider support for their causes, moral entrepreneurs and self-help groups organize them- selves into loosely structured coalitions such as the antirape and antibattering movements. Usually, one or two well-publicized cases are pointed to as sym- bolic of the problem. Soon many other victims come forward to tell about similar personal experiences. Then experts such as social workers, detectives, and lawyers testify about the suffering that these kinds of victims routinely endure and plead that legal reme- dies are urgently needed. Extensive media coverage is a prerequisite for success. The group’s plight becomes known because of investigative reports on television, talk radio discussions, magazine cover stories, news- paper editorials, and the circulation of these accounts on blogs. Meanwhile, press conferences, demonstra- tions, marches, candlelight vigils, petition drives, bal- lot initiatives, lawsuits, and lobbying campaigns keep the issue alive and the pressure on.

Sociologically, what happens during the first stage can be termed the social construction of a social prob- lem, along with claims-making and typification (see Spector and Kitsuse, 1987; and Best, 1989b). A con- sensus emerges that a pattern of behavior is harmful and should be subjected to criminal penalties. This crystal- lization of public opinion is a product of the activities of moral entrepreneurs, support groups, and their allies. Spokespersons engage in a claims-making process by airing grievances, estimating how many people are hurt in this manner, suggesting appropriate remedies to facilitate recovery, and recommending measures that could prevent this kind of physical, emotional, and financial suffering from burdening others. Through the process of typification, advocates point out classic cases and textbook examples that illustrate the menace to society against which they are campaigning.