Table of Contents (5) - Flipbook - Page 15
W
hen the FrameWorks Institute was founded in 1999,
experts in the “child maltreatment” field, as it was then
known, were puzzled that evocative depictions of child
abuse were not generating greater public concern. Was it a
question of Americans not caring enough or was
something deeper contributing to the lack of public
support?
It turned out that part of the reason was that Americans’
understanding of child abuse was deeply individualistic. More
fundamentally, people didn’t have ways of thinking about the
important development that takes place in the earliest years of life.
These mindsets didn’t lead people to see the role that public policy
and programs could play in preventing maltreatment before it
happened, much less the role that government and communities play
in promoting child wellbeing.
Today, there’s strong evidence that these patterns in public thinking
have substantially shifted. While major, culture-wide mindset shifts
often take generations, it’s clear that in just 25 years, public thinking
about child wellbeing has changed significantly. The story of how it
happened offers us all important insights into how reframing can
catalyze changes in public discourse, thinking, and policy.
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