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“Child Psychopath” Films of the 1980s and 1990s

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Cruel Children in Popular Texts and Cultures

Part of the book series: Critical Approaches to Children's Literature ((CRACL))

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Abstract

This essay examines the nexus of cultural factors—for example, rising juvenile crime rates, adoption practices, and a punitive approach to crime—that led to a proliferation of the figure of the “child psychopath” in such films as Mikey (1992), Child of Rage (1992) The Good Son (1993), The Paper Boy (1994), Relative Fear (1994), and Daddy’s Girl (1996), and the relationship between these portrayals and the subsequent moral panic over “superpredators,” ultraviolent juvenile criminals who operated without remorse or conscience. The conclusion briefly considers the implications of the “rebirth” of the child psychopath in the 2010s and the way the figure has transformed in response to a different sociopolitical climate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of English, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

    Karen J. Renner

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  1. Karen J. Renner
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Correspondence to Karen J. Renner .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada

    Monica Flegel

  2. Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada

    Christopher Parkes

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Renner, K.J. (2018). “Child Psychopath” Films of the 1980s and 1990s. In: Flegel, M., Parkes, C. (eds) Cruel Children in Popular Texts and Cultures. Critical Approaches to Children's Literature. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72275-7_10

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