A Rhetoric of Retribution and Redemption: Burke’s Terms for Order in the Drama of Child Sexual Abuse

• In Event: Scholar to Scholar II

Abstract

This paper uses Kenneth Burke’s interpretative framework to examine the social and legal perceptions and treatment of child sexual abusers. First discussed are Burke’s conceptions of identity and orientation. Next, Burke’s “terms for order” are used to show the ways in which the dominant hierarchy compels us to scapegoat and sacrifice in the quest for social redemption. The goal is to assess the ultimate utility of punitive and rehabilitative approaches used with offenders.

Author

• Pamela Schultz, Alfred University