Causes Of Moral Panics

Causes Of Moral Panics
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WHY WAS THERE A POLICE CRACKDOWN ON RECREATIONAL DRUGS IN THE SIXTIES?
This essay will look closely at the context surrounding the topic in question. Moving through to evaluate how this
subculture created a moral panic amongst the general public. The term moral panic first arose in Britain with the
elaborate increase in the use of recreational drugs in young adults was first observed by sociologist Jock young in
1971.[footnoteRef:1] The moral panic over drug–taking results in the setting up of drugs squads[footnoteRef:2] which
increased the number of drug related offences and arrests. The phenomenon highlights the correlation between drug
taking in the British youth population and other sub–factors such as the media, public opinion and ... Show more
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Accessed 10/22, 2015.
Parlimentary Business.?Crimes of the Century.?2015; Available at:?
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/olympic–britain/crime–and–defence/crimes–of–the–century/.
Accessed 11/11,
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

Folk Devils And Moral Panics Analysis
I. INTRODUCTION Throughout history, people have recurrently developed exaggerated and widespread fears and
reactions to relatively minor social issues, such as violence in video games, satanic day cares, gay marriage, and
immigration. British sociologist and criminologist Stanley Cohen identifies these pervasive societal reactions as moral
panics. In his book Folk Devils and Moral Panics (1972), Cohen describes a moral panic as a "condition, episode,
person or group of persons emerg[ing] to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests" (p. 9). In addition,
although moral panics are typically based on a kernel of truth, the fear is overwhelmingly disproportional to the actual
threat, with mass media outlets as the principal sources ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
As per Howard Becker (1963), moral crusaders create or reinforce rules in order to emerge victorious in a moral battle
between good and evil. Moreover, moral crusaders are often from higher status positions and have the capital to
influence moral boundaries in order to target certain groups, while simultaneously serving their own interests. The
moral crusaders of the 1970s and 1980s used fears of child abduction to shift from a rehabilitative ideology towards a
more punitive ideology regarding child abductors (Zgoba, 2004). This shift in ideology, combined with the
proliferation of sensationalized stories in the media and subsequent emotional reactions from politicians, indicates the
catalyzing force of the moral panic (and moral crusade) surrounding child abduction. Moreover, during this time
period, technology was becoming increasingly popular, and pedophiles and cyberstalkers were believed to be using the
Internet to seduce innocent children (Jenkins, 1998). Increased technology also led to the advent of twenty–four hour
news, which led to news stations constantly having to inform the public of new stories, as opposed to covering only the
most important news stories of that particular day. Ultimately, moral crusades against child abduction utilized the
timing of increased mass media, technology, and shift in political ideology to cultivate this

Contemporary Australian Discourse: Moral Panic
In contemporary Australian discourse, moral panic is frequently present in the reporting of social and public incidents.
What becomes apparent is understandings of public incidents become portrayed as alarming through social
constructions and mass mediated modes of communication (Critcher 2003). Due to a society's mass mediated
exaggeration of certain social events, these interpretations become widely adopted views. As the media and significant
social agents implement such discourses into everyday usage, these exaggerations evolve and magnify into major
social concerns which further widens social panic and public conflict (Ungar 2001). For example, youth drug–use is a
topic that has become a prevalent social and public concern especially among young Australians. Therefore,
developing further understanding into moral panic and how it is relevant to the Australian context can be achieved
through an exploration of moral panic discourse and analyses ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
According to previous moral panic research (Cohen 1972; Cohen 2011; Critcher 2003; Hall et al. 1978; Krinsky
2013:1; Lull & Hinerman 1997) a moral panic may be defined as a widespread incident often triggered by alarming
media stories and reinforced by reactive laws and public policy, of exaggerated or misdirected public concern, anxiety,
fear, or anger over a perceived threat to social order. Additionally, other studies on moral panic (Critcher 2003; Goode
& Ben–Yehuda 2009; Ungar 2001) have shown that social panics arise because of a socially perceived or real threat to
certain taken for granted ideologies, values and interests. Evidently, there can be many interpretations of what can
constitute a moral panic and that is why Critcher (2003) illustrates that moral panic discourse has developed rather
divergent meanings in British and American

Media Panics
A media panic or often referred to as a moral panic, is a term that describes how the media is formulating issues
amongst our society. Over time, our culture has shifted and caused for many conclusions regarding media panics and
the relationship between youth and the media culture. Based upon previous knowledge and course readings, I have
drawn a very disturbing conclusion; this being that no matter what age, children are willing or non willingly now under
surveillance to determine what kind of role media is playing in their lives. With what I have gathered from the readings
and class lectures, most authors strongly believe that different forms of media directly influence children's thinking or
perception. What authors and researchers ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The authors discuss the objectifying gaze, which I believe has a lot to do with how females are perceived with the
usages of photo altering technology and online visual cultures. The theoretical framework of the objectification theory
places female bodies in a sociocultural context with the aim of illuminating the lived experiences and mental health
risks of girls and women who encounter sexual objectification (Frederickson & Roberts, 174). The pose and the filter
that a young woman chooses to enhance the beauty of her photo is argued to read just that, and it allows for others
viewing them to assume their lived experiences, how these young women generally are, the practices they engage in,
etc. What we tend to forget, especially in an age where digital culture is so prominent, is that a picture is a snapshot of
a moment in time. According to Drotner (1999), the idea that new media has become a threat and a main cause of
moral panics to young people is problematic because it infers that they are effected by what they are exposed to. This
assumption of children, introduces to our society that every piece of media may be able to change them. What we are
telling ourselves is that young people are followers and do not have a mind of their own; they are vulnerable, innocent
and easily influenced. Media panics introduce the idea that there should be some sort of protection for children from
the dangers media may introduce. In

The Role Of Media In The Media
The media controls society, whether we agree with this or not. Their depiction of acts constitutes our image of the
world around us. They shape the public perceptions, and create moral panics. Human by nature are attracted to
violence, as proven "[b]y age 18, it is estimated that the average child will have seen approximately 200,000 violent
acts and 16,000 murders on television alone" (Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 1999). This shows violence is a part
of our daily lives. This is entertaining to people and therefore the media picks up on this and reports it religiously.
Stanley Cohen (1972/1980), Goode and Ben–Yehuda (1994) laid out the ways in which the media captures our
attention, and capitalizes on it in many instances to push their own agendas. This and the cause of moral panics is a
repercussion of the problem frame.
The media and its portrayal of crimes are based around one idea, which leads to other problems. This idea is the
problem frame, in which the media's primary concern is capital and in order to make capital, they need to make the
news entertaining. They proceed to present a story where it is evident, who is correct and who is wrong with just a
glance (Steeves and Milford, 2015). This usually involves talking about violent incidents or groups, such as MS–13.
This framing of crime leads to many other problems, people continually view the world as a downtrodden and
violence–ridden which leads to moral panics. Cohen talked about moral panics as when a

Moral Panic
According to Stanley Cohen (1972, pg. 9), moral panics occur when a "condition, episode, person or group of persons
emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests", and is useful for explaining the hysteria in
Western society towards the 'pandemic' of HIV/AIDS. Sociologists argue that there was a social construction around
it's meaning and the way in which it was perceived caused by an apparent social anxiety or prejudice against
homosexuals and other minority groups. This essay will attempt to recognise the definition of 'moral panics' and its
application to HIV/AIDS and its social construction.
A moral panic can be defined as the common characteristics of social problems that suddenly emerge, cause problems
for ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Simon Watney ([1988] cited in Moral Panics and the Media, 2006, p. 251–252) argues that in the example of AIDS
"posed a significant challenge to any moral panic model". He proposed five major criticisms: firstly, he argues that
moral panics place blame on the state as a prime mover in moral panics. Whilst this may lend itself to be true in the
case of the U.K. government, it does not consider that British society was naturally prejudice against the minority
groups inflicted by the virus before its arrival. Thus, the campaign to warn the public on the virus did not directly
influence the public into a moral panic but was instead a factor. Secondly, "a model which separates out individual
moral panics cannot appreciate how they may overlap and reinforce each other". Thirdly, it does not recognise the
significance of dominant discourse. During the 1980s, Britain had already gained a significant prejudice against these
minority groups – as mentioned above – and thus it may not be useful to describe the pandemic as a moral panic as the
dominant discourse of society at that time was naturally homophobic and racist. Therefore, it can be argued that
HIV/AIDS only heightened the social anxiety of, for example, gay people, because the anxiety was already in place.
The fourth criticism to be made by Watney (1988) is that the theory does not allow for folk devils resisting the status.
Folk devils are

Moral Panics
Mind Over Mass Media by Steven Pinker The lack of consistency, clarity and organization in Steven Pinker's argument
caused it to be ineffective. A man once said, "It's a lack of clarity that creates chaos and frustration." One of the things
that this article presents is his attention grapping paragraph, Moral Panics. When the reader sees the word panic, they
will immediately start to panic before they know why their panicking. Then the reader reads about how the printing
press, newspapers, paperbacks and television creates moral panics and were all once denounced as a threat to
consumers' brainpower. The reader will either 1) roll their eyes and keep reading or 2) become scared and continue to
read on wondering if they should dissociate ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The first place that pure speculation is found is the second paragraph. "So too with electronic technologies.
PowerPoint, we're told, is reducing discourse to bullet points."– Steven Pinker, "Mind Over Mass Media". From this
sentence Pinker says we're told as if to say he's guessing and if it's not true then it's not personally his fault; an example
of pure speculation.Then in the fourth paragraph he says that scientists are never far from their e–mails, rarely touch
paper and cannot lecture without a PowerPoint. Though this maybe close to true, this is laughable because in the
second paragraph, he had been told, but know in the fourth paragraph he's completely convinced. That was an
extension of pure speculation. The last example of pure speculation and propaganda is the fifth paragraph. "But the
experience of neural plasticity does not mean the brain is a blob of clay pounded into shape by experience."– Steven
Pinker, "Mind Over Mass Media" This is a big insult, if the reader is Christian because they believe that humans and
animals are made from dust and dirt, in a way they were made out of clay being molded and perfected. So the brain
being "clay" is a speculation, as for the being pounded be experience, a psychologist used applied neuroscience to a
classroom teaching them through experience and was deemed successful. Which is why most people say that
experience is the best

Moral Panics
Challenge: Select and describe a "moral panic" against a perceived deviance. Analyse the role of the "moral
entrepreneur" and "folk devil" in your selected case. Finally, explicate what it demonstrates about individuals and their
socialization. (Length: 2 000 words)
Societies tend to view the youth as the future and hope of a nation. To a certain extent, societies observe the behaviours
and potential of the young people to 'estimate' the political and socio–economic future of a nation. When there is what
societies view as a deviance from the norm when in it comes to young people – often there is what is viewed as a
'moral panic'. I will be looking at the 'moral panic' of youth crime or juvenile delinquency, the role of its 'moral ...
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juvenile delinquency is most likely to have a negative impact on society. The second characteristic is that if the
hostility towards "youths" increases, they will eventually become "folk devils" therefore creating a division (Cohen
1973:16). The third is a form of consensus although concern is not nationwide; there should be global acceptance that
the youths pose a threat to society. The fourth characteristic is formed up of disproportionality and the action taken is
disproportionate to the actual threat posed by the accused group. The final characteristic is instability; moral panics are
highly volatile and tend to disappear as quickly due to a lack of public interest or other rising news reports (Goode and
Ben–Yehuda 1994:57).
Is youth crime a moral panic or a moral crisis, many people will have different views however what view does the
media have? The media tend to represent youth crime as a moral panic within society to create a stir and gain the
public's attention. Since the existence of youth crime the media uses this particular offence as a catalyst of creating a
moral panic within the community.
Youth crime can be defined is referred to as "Juvenile delinquency" this refers to children generally under the age of 18
years old who behaves in a way, which is against the law. Majority of legal systems recommend specific actions for
dealing with these youths, e.g. young offender's institutes or detention centres. In the South Africa youth crime is
generally

Moral Panic And Its Effects On Society
Moral panic is "a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal
values and interests and its nature is presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media; the moral
barricades are manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right–thinking people; socially accredited experts
pronounce their diagnoses and solutions; ways of coping are evolved or resorted to; the condition then disappears,
submerges or deteriorates and becomes more visible" (Cohen, 1973, p.9). This means moral panic is an exaggeration or
distortion of some perceived deviant behaviour by the media. In contemporary context, moral panics are not just one–
off events, "it is their reappearance that confirms their status as moral disturbances of any significant order" (Marsh
and Melville, 2011, p.7). Basically moral panics are social issues that relate to real fears about a particular behaviour
such as paedophilia due to the exaggeration of media influence. Throughout the ages, media and society have been
concerned over children. Instead of youth as folk devils, children nowadays serve as the victims of folk devils
(Critcher, 2002, p.532). With these trigger events popping up, stereotypes are gradually formed. In recent British
history, Paedophile had become one of the most terrifying folk–devils (Jenkins, 1992, p.99). Paedophile behaviour is a
moral panic one legal case and the panic is generally fuelled by the sensationalism of media in

Crime, Moral Panics and the Media Essay
Most people use second hand information as their core source of information about crime, this source of information
usually being the media. When carrying out sample research in Birmingham, Susan Smith (1984) discovered that 52%
of people obtained most of their information about crime from the media, 36% obtained it from hearsay or alleged
experiences of friends and neighbours, 3% from their own experiences, and 1% from the police service themselves
(cited in Jones, 2001; 8). However the media tend to exaggerate upon areas of criminal activity causing a moral panic.
'A moral panic is a semi– spontaneous or media generated mass movement based on the perception that some
individual or group, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
As mentioned earlier Stanley Cohen (1972) is one of prominent sociologists that devised the term 'moral panic'. He
defined the concept as
'A sporadic episode which, as it occurs, subject's society to bouts of moral panic, or in other terms, worries about the
values and principles which society upholds which may be in jeopardy' (Cohen, 1987; 9).
The term 'moral panic' was introduced by Stanley Cohen (1972) in his book entitled 'Folk Devils and Moral Panics'.
This was as a result of the studies he carried out on the UK's media and social reaction to the 'Mods and the Rockers' in
the 1960's. The research was based upon a group of working–class youths; there were two groups of people who
fought on the Clacton beach leaving many beach huts vandalised. Therefore this became front page news within the
media, the press claiming that 'Clacton had been terrorised by rampaging groups of 'Mods' and 'Rockers'' (Jones, 2001;
84). The media captured the interest of the public by using eye catching head lines and phrases, some of the phrases
incorporated in the test include 'riot', 'siege', and 'screaming mob' (The Guardian). They use such words in a 'moral
panic' to try and catch the attention of the public's eye.
A moral panic is not a new phenomenon it is an

Public Incidents As A Moral Panic
Since the early–2010s, debate around the sexualisation of children has instigated much social alarm. A number of
media articles (Cameron 2010; Critchley 2009; Doherty 2011; Kermond 2012, Jones & Cuneo 2009; Snow 2013;
Tuohy 2012) have depicted the sexualisation of children as a prevailing social matter which accentuate concepts
represented in moral panic discourse. In everyday practices of reporting public and social events, moral panic
frequently becomes elicited by society's mass mediated exaggeration of certain social events. What becomes apparent
from Critcher's work (2003), is how understandings of public incidents become portrayed as concerning through
socially constructed and distorted notions of panic which become widely adopted views. As Cohen (1972) suggests,
moral panic becomes a state of panic through the encouragement of important social agents which believe that an
ideological perspective is threatened or endangered by a particular view. Thereby to accentuate these notions using
moral panic discourse, this essay will investigate whether representations of sexualised children constitute a moral
panic contrived by mediated distortions or is truly a concerning societal issue through an analysis of the processual and
attributional model (Critcher 2003). Drawing on both discursive models of moral panic will allow a thorough
investigation of the catalysts for moral panic involving the sexualisation of children. This paper will demonstrate how
moral panic discourse

Media And Moral Panics Analysis
Lastly, I will discuss how the article I have chosen greatly relates to this idea of media and moral panics. The
sexualisation of women in the media is very much true, and is continuously reinforced and exposed to children.
Women as sexual objects, and women continuously being a part of news that relate to sexual acts is a form of moral
and media panic in society. Moral panics have become the main way in which daily events are brought to the attention
of the public. "Moral panics become a means whereby the state persuades people to accept the need to deal with threats
to the social order through authoritarian means" (Buckingham & Jensen, 416, 2012). To add, moral panics are
overwhelmingly concerned with moral values, and drawing on lines between

Moral Panics Essay
SOC389 Essay 1
1.)Both the Eugenics and Satanism moral panics were both originated in the form of some sort of rumor that over a
sustained period of time was amplified to an extreme extent. Both of the moral panics were spread through the form of
media and posed a great threat to society. The Eugenics case was a combination of both a moral panic as well as a
conspiracy theory being that it was believed that complex human behaviors such as criminality and lack of success
could potentially be bred out of existence by breeding only for strength and resistance to disease (Kossy, 2001). The
basis for this moral panic began with the uprising familiarity of Darwin's Theory of Evolution, which people did not
understand fully and applied ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The "powerful" who first began Eugenics were those from the Human Betterment Foundation and the British Eugenics
Society whose main target were the genetically "unfit" and the "feeble–minded" (Kossy, 2001). They categorized
specific groups of individuals as being "unfit." For example, they believed all African Americans to show criminal
behaviors, Native Americans to lack civilization, Jews to spread disease, Italians to disobey the law, and the Chinese to
overuse opiates (Kossy, 2001). The Satanic moral panic was originated by a power elite, congressman Paul Simon, and
then was reemphasized by another power elite, Geraldo Rivera (Victor, 1993). As the Satanic rituals became widely
publicized, the powerful continued to reinforce society's beliefs about the issue, and it began benefitting politicians,
movie makers, musicians, and people in the medical industry. Both the Eugenics and Satanism cases involved the
power elite manipulating society to conform to their beliefs and to ostracize certain other groups of people.
3.)The Eugenics and Satanism moral panic case studies demonstrate that people have a tremendous fear of social or
moral change that they will believe just about anything authorities and opinion leaders tell them to. The Eugenics panic
caused people to fear non–whites because they were told they had higher rates of disease and

Moral Panics And Media Panics
Moral Panics and Media Panics
A moral panic is a phenomenon that is examined and understood in an unbiased fashion. This type of panic locates a
"folk devil," is shared, remains out of synch with the seriousness it evokes, and varies in intensity over time (Goode
and Ben–Yehuda, 41). On the other hand, a media panic is a moral panic about the effects of a communications
medium of technology (Class lecture: January 27, 2016). Overall, a moral panic is based upon the reaction of society
from an event while a media panic is the reaction of society from a type of technology. This paper looks to examine the
similarities and differences between surveillance in the government today and surveillance in the government during
the Cold War. It will address the effects these events have or had on society while examining specific media panics that
played a role in society's reactions to these historical events. By providing evidence to prove how these panics affect
society, I will examine why these moral and media panics exist and the impact they have had on society as a whole.
A moral panic develops in a society when there is some type of threat looking to harm the society in some way. The
threat of a nuclear attack by the USSR and its possible plan to control society through communism aided in the
development of a moral panic during the Cold War era (Cold War History). American fears continued to grow as the
relationship between the two countries became very tense (Hadley). During the

Stanley Cohen's Concept of a Moral Panic
Introduction
Stanley Cohen has become famous due to his brilliant works on sociology, criminology and human rights. His talent
allowed him to depict human fears and concerns, conflicts between different social groups and human sufferings which
resulted from these conflicts. Stanley Cohen's career started to move in the upward direction with the publication of his
first serious research in 1972. The book called "Folk Devils and Moral Panics" was devoted to the issues relevant to
the British society in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Exactly in this book he introduced for the first time such a term as
"moral panic", which became rather widely used since then. The author of the book concentrated his attention on the
rivalry of the two ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In any case they will be labelled as deviant. Stanley Cohen's book "Folk Devils and Moral Panics" was devoted to
"youthful delinquencies and vandalism" [6]. He studied the phenomenon which occurred in the English society in the
1960s which received the name of "The Mods and Rockers". These two groups of youth were the first one to appear
after the so–called "teddy boys". However, Cohen does not accuse either Mods or Rockers or the conflict between
them of being responsible for the moral panic. Instead he states that it was mass media, which assisted greatly in
developing the conflict between young people. Thus, "the core idea of the book is that interventions – usually in the
name of benevolence or "doing good" – can sometimes actually make situations worse not better" [6].
The peaceful life of the English society of the 1960s was struck by the clashes between the Mods and Rockers. Both
Mods and Rockers were called "gangs", which is a "structure sharing the same ideas, attachments and solidarity" [7].
Every gang usually has its own "interests, activities, membership, and status" [7]. Usually such groups appear
spontaneously. Both gangs – Mods and Rockers – "represented opposite tastes with regard to a number of social
conventions such as clothing, grooming, music, and so on" [7]. For example, the Mods (modernists) preferred to wear
suits and pointed shoes, listen to Jazz and Rhythm & Blues style of music and ride scooters. In their

Moral Panics Essay
Question #1 Moral panics is something that the society will always experience. From back in history to now, there are
different cases of moral panics. Most of these panics affect and target individuals on a daily basis. Rainbow parties,
teen sex bracelets, and even bullying has become a huge moral panic for the society now. Bullying have always
existed, however, the method and seriousness of bullying has increased dramatically over time. Cyberbullying is one of
the most troubling and disruptive crimes of our society now. The advancement of technology has definitely enforced a
huge impact on cyberbullying. The internet and its easy access has made it exceptionally easy to target people,
especially juveniles, throughout the day at any given time. Many popular social networking sites such as Facebook,
Twitter, and Instagram is where a lot of bullying happens to take place. I definitely understand why this has become
such an enormous moral panic because of the negative influences it has on young people or juveniles. The internet
makes it apparent and easy to judge others by the way someone looks, dress, or act. Even though this is a country of
freedom, liberty, and equality, people still are inclined to judge others and critique them harshly. This cause juveniles to
develop a mere sense of conscience, low self–esteem, and a high need for approval or acceptance. First, what is the
actual definition of bullying? Cyberbullying involves bullying

Moral Panic Essay
Moral Panic Moral panic is a widely used and often misinterpreted concept in social sciences. The term was invented
by the British sociologist Stanley Cohen the late sixties. Cohen defined moral panic as a form of collective behaviour
during which: "A condition, episode, person or group emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and
interests; its nature is presented in a stylised and stereotypical fashion by the mass media; the moral barricades are
manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right thinking people; socially accredited experts pronounce their
diagnosis and solutions; ways of coping are evolved or (more often) resorted to; the condition then disappears, ... Show
more content on Helpwriting.net ...
It represents the collective fear of the society from the "other". I suggest that today moral panic is not simply a matter
of exaggerated social problems, but it is a fear of losing control over the "other" and the fear of the truth about the
"other". Moral panic intends to reinforce the boundaries between the "self" and the "other". My case study is the moral
panic of pornography on the Internet. Moral panic What is moral panic? Moral panic is a form of collective behaviour
that from one day to the other considers a certain group of people dangerous. The reasons might vary from fake
rumours to real (exaggerated) facts. The period of a moral panic usually ends with social actions either in form of
attacking the "other" (in the case of a Satanic Ritual) or in changing the law (pornography on the Internet). Moral
panics usually take place at the time of significant changes in society, when there is a great fear of loss of control. In
these times "collective consciousness" needs to be reinforced so that society can locate new boundaries. Other
examples of moral panics are over witchcrafts, satanic rituals, drugs, handguns, teenage pregnancy, TV violence,
Internet and so on. According to Goode and Ben–Yehuda, moral panic has the following necessary indicators: 1.
Concern – (different from fear) over the imagined threat (and those associated with

Media Influence On The Media
Introduction The last several decades saw an explosive growth in new technologies, leading to the adoption of the
internet, mobile devices, and many others that allow easy access to information. More than ever before, the latest news
and breaking events are more accessible for everyone at any time and place. The prominence of the media on people's
daily lives, whether it is from a newspaper, television broadcasts, to websites accessible from the internet, is even
greater than before. There has been concerns over the media in the past; many feel that its power and the potential to
influence the public should not be ignored. The emergence of new technologies, which allow easier access to the
different forms of media, means that these concerns are even more relevant today. The aim of this paper is to explore
one of the consequences of media influence on the public, namely, the concept of "moral panics," and discuss and the
importance of said consequence, as well as the motivations behind them. The Influence of Media The media plays an
integral role in connecting people to others and the society. Whether it is in the form of entertainment, such as movies
and television shows, or news, the media helps to discover what is beyond people's own lifestyles and experiences,
whether the portrayals of society through the media's lens are accurate or not. In the context of crime, often when the
media inaccurately portray a crime, typically as an entertainment, it may not be obvious for

Discuss and describe a moral panic from a social science...
Society is frequently subjected to moral panics when any crime is committed. Humanity repeatedly blows crimes and
incidents out of proportion until the entire society is somewhat controlled. Stuart Hall, in his book, 'Policing the Crisis'
explained that "the media, in conjunction with the bourgeoisie, create moral panics in order to perpetrate fear and
maintain control over society, as a whole." (Hall, 2013, s. 1) Moral panics are created as a hazard and rising threat to
shock both society and culture into changing the way it thinks and acts about problems in the real world. In this essay,
moral panics will be looked at in detail with a specific interest in the case of James Bulger. There will too, be a focus
on the influence the media, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Marx established the 'Elite Engineered Model' which encompasses the ruling elite manufacturing certain panics to
instil fear in society and divert it away from the real problems they are having. In the scenario of the James Bulger
murder, those with high ranking in society involved in the case, for example, police, detectives, press and politicians,
created the moral panic of the murder in an attempt to divert the public's opinion away from the shocking crime of two
young boys, just 10 years old, not just abducting a toddler from a busy shopping centre in Liverpool, but also killing
him in the most vicious way and dumping his body on train tracks in an attempt to cover up what had happened. This
is not the behaviour of children; it is the behaviour of evil.
Particularly due to the age of the killers, the ferociousness of the crime and the age of the victim, the mass media
reports allowed the public to get personally and emotionally involved in the case and have severe anger and resentment
towards the children who murdered James Bulger. The public outcry was huge and, the decision by the politicians and
press

Essay on The Concept of Moral Panics
The Concept of Moral Panics A moral panic is said to occur when the media mobilises public opinion around the
condemnation of deviance ("Media coverage of deviance: moral panics", lecture handout, 07–10–02). Deviance, in this
context, refers to the violation of social norms and values, and the subsequent disruption of social order. This essay
will begin with a clarification of the terms 'moral panic' and 'deviance' and outline how the two concepts are related. It
will then describe the processes of news reporting while making reference to Stanley Cohen's established case study of
the 1964 Bank Holiday fracas in Clacton, England as an example of such a media–fuelled moral ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
Leslie Wilkins in her extract titled "Information and the definition of deviance" (Cohen and Young, 1974, p.36)
supports this relativist view and uses culture to illustrate how deviance is subjective. She explains how many cultures
prior to Western contact held definitions of normality which were out of accord with existing Western values.
However, once the cultures made contact, the Western interlopers would redefine the indigenous cultures' perceptions
of normality and deviance. Thus, distinct value systems do exist, but the more powerful groups in a society routinely
impose their own values on others. The mass media is a crucial influence on the public perception of deviance. When it
focuses on deviance, it shapes opinions on what constitutes deviant behaviour and "provides a symbolic cement for a
consensus of values" ("Media coverage of deviance: moral panics", lecture handout, 07–10–02). And as previously
stated, when the media's focus on such deviance instigates a vehement public denunciation of the associated 'problem',
it is said to be encouraging moral panic. In his study 'Folk Devils and Moral Panics', Stanley Cohen suggests that a
moral panic often occurs when "a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat
to societal values and interests

Essay on An Inside Look at Moral Panics
Moral Panics Opinions on personal and social matters are evergrowing and can be found in all forms of media. Themes
of sex and their regulation from all forms of figures and institutions influence the public's' perceptions of normality.
The controversies of society that result in a heightened reaction from the public is a moral panic. Reactions that result
in these mass panics can be initiated by simple facts about a certain taboo, and as generations change, so do the norms
of that society, creating a flux of opinions that can generate violent reactions. Judith Levine, the controversial author of
"Harmful to Minors" believed there was an argument against the public addressing the sexual habits of minors as
corrupt. One of many moral ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The merging of magical deeds with the idea that women were consorting with the devil made the moral panic intense,
increasing puritan panic. Because two taboos had become intertwined, the town of Massachusetts became engrossed in
the topic of witches. While men were also the victims, women were the center of the burnings, and were usually seen
as outcasts that exposed an area or town to a negative reputation. This is highly sexist, as women had few lifestyle
options, and if they deviated from what was expected, they were at risk of being accused of witchcraft. Weeding out
unpleasant townsfolk was a major criteria for trials. In this period, women generally belonged to a father until married.
Outcasts usually defined women who were homeless and not married. This meant women were dependent on men,
working to please a male dominated society where their lives were strictly controlled. Those who were raped were at
fault for their victimization. Women in this age were solely housewives, without an education and held no power or
land. Perhaps the few freedoms females enjoyed that were not advised by fellow colonial women were view with
jealous eyes, and punished by the resentful. Another interesting and ironic fact that the actual term 'witch hunts'
became used metaphorically to describe moral panics in general. Even though the thought is sickening to modern
readers, the process of burning the accused was a legal act until 1750.

Essay On Moral Panic
Internet Moral Panics and the Coming of Ages Teenages are adolescents whose age falls within the range from age 13
to 19, and defined as teenagers or teen because their age number ends with "teen". During this adolescent stage,
teenagers are in state of development physically and mentally to the ultimate goal of human development –– adulthood
(Louw and Van Ede ). Sex, this seemingly adulthood topic begins to emerge from teens. As the increasing trend of
teenagers start to have sex, the parents' fear about teenagers behavior, and myth spreader with strong evidences
emerge, the society panics, almost instantly calling for the urge of internet abuse and condemn that it is the internet
causes teenagers to have sex, without critically consider ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The enormous flux of information which includes sex videos, sex messages or other media related to sex are also
become available to anyone who can get on the internet. The panic was discovered by concerning parents and
education advocates and then spreaded by journalists, news and the public discussion with supports from academia
scholars. Media describe internet as a "a new and vexing burden" on parents (Harmon). Fears rise from the parents,
teachers and the common public. The sexual transmitted disease discovered on teenagers and teen girl pregnancy
scared the society. The pandemic moral panic diffuses as fast as it can through parents discoursing and media
portraying lament parents helplessly find out their teenage children start to have sex. " 'Huge hickeys on my 16 y/o
son's neck,' divulges one message, 'Our daughter had sex!' runs another", medias such as the New York Times reported
on those desperate parents spreading the moral panic of teenagers having sex (Harmon). As helpless victims, parents
immediately blame their findings to the wires they hooked up at home. " 'What do you do when your child is caught
exchanging sexually tainted messages through E–mail?' one mother asked recently on a World Wide Web site called
Parent Soup. 'I hate to restrict an educational tool, but what do you do?' (Harmon). Thus giving the public a victim that
is easy to attack and

Moral Panics: A Social Media Analysis
Social media often serves as a linkage institution to update the public about what is going on in the world; weather,
alerts, local and national news, and more. Unfortunately, there are times in which media tend to create a moral panic
within the public. As mentioned in The Media, Moral Panics, and the Politics of Crime Control (1998), Chiricos notes
that moral panic is an intense feeling over some perceived threat to societal values and interests. In the summer and fall
of 1993, violent crime captured the public's attention which dominated the media for the next couple of years. The
pressure provided by the public forced political leaders to act swiftly and with serious action. This guided the "get
tough" proposal to lead to more police, more prison beds, and longer mandatory sentences, more and faster ... Show
more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Chiricos and his colleagues (1995) found that television news associated with crime was significantly related to higher
fear of crime for white women between the ages 30–54 in particular. Other findings of their research, was that the only
significant relationship between fear of crime and listening to Radio News is reported for both, white and black
women. The TV news effects are found primarily for female, white, and the middle–age audience and those with recent
victim experiences, low income, and living in disproportionately black neighborhoods. Regardless of being recent
victims of crime or not and living in high income or low income neighborhoods, women showed the most significant
television news effect, which concluded that other factors other than resonance was at play. Therefore, their data
clearly indicate the relationship between television news and fear of crime is entirely exclusive to white women,
despite the fact that they are at low victim risk, according to Chiricos (1995) and his colleagues'

Moral Panic Examples
A "moral panic" is an event that has the potential to take place all over the world and is not restricted by time, culture
or a specific religion (Luce, 2012: 399). When these panics occur, there are various players involved. For example
there are those whose actions result in the initiation of the panic, as well those who take advantage of these actions,
such as the media in various ways such as images so as to possibly benefit themselves or draw negative attention in the
direction of a certain group. In my essay I am going to discuss what a moral panic actually is and carefully examine an
example of a moral panic that has taken place in society such as the HIV/Aids case so as to try and understand the
underlying nature of the people involved ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The people who initially knew about it were distressed as they did not know how it was contracted or how to prevent
themselves from falling victim to it and medical researchers had made little progress in their analysis of the virus at
that time. Once the media became aware of HIV's existence, blame was almost immediately placed in the direction of
the homosexual community as they were the first ones to be discovered as having contracted the virus and a large
number of the reported cases were originally from homosexuals (Luce, 2013: 400). Soon enough, an impression was
given in many newspapers and by the press that the virus was somehow a form of punishment cast upon that group by
God for living the sort of lifestyle that was considered as morally wrong by society as well as various religions, and
this subsequently also created a moral panic around homosexuality, even though the virus was soon discovered to also
be contracted by the use of infected needles as well as heterosexual unprotected intercourse but that discovery was
disregarded by the media. It was also revealed that most of the data that was released

Moral Panic Research Paper
Moral Panics: A Literal Hyperbole and Examining the Hurricane Katrina Aftermath and the Columbine Shootings
Criminology is continuously changing and developing. Advances of technology have made media our primary news
source for crime. We believe the stories told by our local news media, not doubting a word because these sources are
supposedly reliable. Nevertheless, they sometimes do spread false information. It may be intentional or unintentional.
According to Cohen, media presence amplifies a problem which did not previously exist (Steeves and Milford, 2015)
thus creating a moral panic. As media influence increases, it is necessary for criminologists to study moral panics, such
as the Columbine School shootings or the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This nationwide panic of school shootings and juveniles synonymous with "folk devils" can be shown using the five
features presented by Goode and Ben–Yehuda (Steeves and Milford, 2015). There was initial concern, as several high
profile incidents occurred within a period from late 1997 until the Columbine shootings on April 20, 1999 (Burns and
Crawford, 1999). The media played a key role by describing the horrifying accounts after each shooting to the public,
while they also advertised the funerals of victims throughout social media, radios, and televisions (Burns and
Crawford, 1999). Much of the concern is depicted through the actions taken, by "hiring additional security guards",
"installing metal detectors in schools", and creating "school lockdown procedures" (Burns and Crawford, 1999, p. 152)
to name a few. Next was hostility, shown through the "punitive and restrictive responses", implemented and directed
towards "juvenile delinquents" (Burns and Crawford, 1999, p. 153). It became a felony to "expose children to books,
movies, and video games that contain explicit sex or violence" (Burns and Crawford, 1999, p. 152). Fueled by the
words of Juvenile Magistrate Deborah Robertson, Reverend Mark Clark, and

Moral Panics
According to Casselle & Cramer (2008), this article talk about moral panics where girls use type of communication
technologies being not common. Their discussion try to draw comparison between today' girls fear and using the
internet, mainly from websites, and also concern about using the telegraph and telephone. They try to use various
statistics to argue that girls online are not at risk as they claimed but the panic rhetoric about girls online has more to
do, where adults' begin to fear about the agency of young girls loss of their control over them that it has more to do
with risks of online predators. In this article, they discuss the various opportunities available to girls online and how
statistic is been shows significant ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
They explain that the telephone were originally marketed as a time saver for commercial use and later, it for residential
use where it took telephone companies over twenty years to advertise and market the sociability of the telephone even
though they were aware that was being 'misuse' by them . Cassell and Cramer try to discuss that the relationship
between the production and consumption of technology been part of the culture that facing in the society. The media's
represent in both perpetrators and victims of online crimes.. The media continues to portray the stereotype where the
fact that statistics cited in this article suggest that the majority of the one in seven solicitations that young people
reported in the latest Youth Internet Safety Survey (YISS) do not come from the stereotype of the older male Internet
predator but from family, friends and peers. The use of this statistic was convincing, however I was more doubtful
about their argument that the victim were not from teen girl even though they acknowledge that the girls aged from 14
– 17 experience the highest rate of online solicitation. They argue the fact that solicitations for girls aged between 14
and 17 had dropped by 11 percent. It try to show that statistics can be used to support any argument. It was interesting
to note that even been funded by the YISS, they try to hide their findings base on how to reduce stranger solicitation
that could increase exposure to sexual material and

Moral Panic Essay
Moral panics has become a frequent term with in sociology now days. Moral panic is not new, it goes all the way back
to 1971. Jock Young discussed the increase in drug abuse and made a statement about the fact how media, public
opinions and authorities play a big part in making a moral panic happen. Jock Young was also the first to publish about
moral panic in 1971.The term 'moral panic' can be defined as a disproportional and hostile social reaction to a
condition, person or group defined as a threat to societal values, involving stereotypical media representations and
leading to demands for greater social control as well as creating a spiral of reaction. (McLaughlin & Muncie, 2013).
Moral panics have occurred I many ways. The media ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In 1970 when a period of crises immerged caused by the shifts in politics and economics, the welfare state was blamed
for much of the state of 'sick Britain'. They identified black people, sexual permissiveness and lack of control on
younger people a part of the problem in British society. The statistics where used to draw attention to young black
people and drove law and order to stem the rise of crime and the need to protect the victims against the 'mugging'. what
Hall et al. argued is that the moral panic about this actually underscored the development of authoritarian populism in
Britain. Moral panics has seen to be occurring in periods where the society is undergoing a re–definition of moral
boundaries.
Our morals are what defined the line between deviant behaviour and non–deviant behaviour. We get our morals from:
family, friends, the way we are brought up and where we have lived through out our lives. Everybody might not have
the same morals but we all have a clear perception towards what is and isn't acceptable in the public eye.
Moral panics entails stigmatization about an individual, group or event. To identify a moral panic according to Kenneth
Thompson there are five key elements based on the definition of Cohen:
1) something or someone is defined as a threat to the values that we have.
There must be a form of behaviour that goes against the 'normal' standards and moralities. A feeling of

Moral panic is a phenomenon, in which people's reaction to events and/or actions is exaggerated by the massive
influence of the mass media. Public reaction is believed to be triggered by the hypothetical threat from groups or
actions (even statistically insignificant), which are considered as deviant. Negative attitude to the phenomenon may
develop even if the recipient of the news has never directly encountered it.
Health and epidemics trigger the most basic human fear – of death – and frequently serve as a reason for moral panic.
Ebola virus is one of such cases. Ebola epidemic coverage in media constructed the image of the West–African victims
as deviant. Various articles emphasized the fact that the affected people are uneducated, poor

Analysis Of Stanley Cohen 's ' Folk Devils And Moral Panics '
The term Moral Panic was an expression created by Stanley Cohen in his 1972 book "Folk devils and Moral Panics".
Cohen, who was a sociology professor at the University of Essex in the 60s, developed the concept of Moral Panic as a
way to describe the media coverage of the violence that spawned between two rival youth gangs (the Mods and the
Rockers) and to explain the following societal reaction to that era's adolescent sub–culture.
Since then the term has been regularly used in the media to refer to all sorts of anti–social and criminal behaviours.The
use of media can create unnecessary panic about a range of different subjects, one of the most popular being drugs.
At around the same time as Cohen's original research and study, a man named Jock Young, another sociologist and
criminologist (and a co–author with Cohen of later studies including The Manufacture of News 1981), explored the
moral panic that developed around the drug use of 'hippies' in the mid to late–60s.
In particular he researched and examined the social reaction to the use of marijuana in the Notting Hill area of West
London and described the process of 'deviance amplification' – which is a process that occurs as a consequence of a
moral panic over a specific type of behaviour. In a nutshell, deviance amplification is reinforcing the effect that
happens as a result of a negative social reaction to such criminal or deviant behaviour (i.e, drug use) and this happens
on a daily basis in the media,

The Law Of Opposites : A Moral Panic
A moral panic is the public's response to problems that seem threatening to the society. Moral panics are used by the
media, however people are likely to panic out of proportion due the way it is upheld.
Our images of crime can be found upon the media, this includes: Television, News Publications and Novels in which
we read. It is known that news editors and journalists make the decision of whether or not a story is fit for publishing,
they determine this by looking at certain values including: the risk, violence level, immediacy, unexpectedness and the
amount of drama/action.
Theorist Surette (1998), looks at 'the law of opposites', this is the opposite view of the official statistics. It shows that:
Property crime is underrepresented, fictional police officers catch the criminal and fictional sex crimes are committed
by strangers rather than acquaintances. Looking at the theory we can relate to popular TV Shows such as Dexter
(2013), in which portrays the police officers as incompetent. This glamourizes the crime as criminals begin to believe
they are able to get away with the deviance / criminal act.
It is known that crime is caused through imitation, arousal and desensitising. The social Learning theory (2009), looks
at how people engage in crime due to their associations. It explains that a person's behaviour is a product of the people
who surround ourselves – people imitate those who people admire. Theorist Bandura (1997) had completed an
experiment in which looked at

The Influence Of Moral Panics
Chances are that in a given person's lifetime, they have experienced a number of moral panics that have in some way
affected society. The term moral panic encompasses a wide variety of events that can be applied to something as severe
as a terrorist attack or to a mass media craze, such as the one over the death of Harambe, the gorilla from Cincinnati. In
order for a certain social pattern to develop into what sociologists would call a moral panic, it must disrupt the
operation of society. The historical American timeline has been greatly influenced by a number of moral panics that
created cultural and structural changes in society. Sociologists started defining public debate using the social–conflict
approach. The sociological paradigm concerning

Media Moral Panic
Parents are always going to worry about what their children take in from the world, and they always have. Although,
while their intentions might be pure, these anxieties over what their children can or can not absorb are arguably not as
legitimate as parents might think. Perceiving media as a primary source for how children behave, ignores all other
aspects that might impact a child. With the complexity of media today, it is harder to deem anything as entirely good or
bad. This creates a difficult situation for parents wishing to present media to their children that aligns with the morals
that they believe would aid in fostering a healthy social foundation for their child. This difficulty is a direct cause of a
phenomenon called media moral panic. According to Stanley Cohen, moral panic happens when "a condition, episode,
person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests". So a media moral
panic is when some type of media has influenced society in a way that causes them to fear that it could impact their
values, in this case, their children. One such media moral panic that caused a stir in religious communities is none
other than the immensely popular children's book series, Harry Potter. Harry Potter is a series that is beloved by many
and has brought joy and magic to the lives of countless children, but it is also one of the most frequently challenged or
banned books in America as of recent years. Many religious parents

The Is An Internet Moral Panic Essay
As technology surrounding the internet has grown there has a been a new movement to connect the world. Specifically,
teens have become more inclined to socialize and connect with friends, family, and strangers through the internet.
Teenagers are known for being vulnerable, naïve, having a vast desire to find acceptance with their peers or society and
are obsessed with love. With the connection of the internet, social media, and teen it has created completely new moral
panic; catfishing. According to, to Merriam–Webster catfishing is defined as an individual who creates a fake profile
on a social networking site to deceive or manipulate others ("Catfish"). Primarily, those who catfish use their fake
profiles to gain romantic relationships with other social network users. Teens began creating fake profiles through their
instinct of wanting to fit in but, this led to teens catfishing to fulfill their dreams of finding acceptance. Catfishing is an
internet moral panic because it is considered a social terror. The act of catfishing became a way for some teens to find
acceptance but, parents feel that teens are not safe on social networking sites such as; Facebook because these
deceptions can cause teens emotional and mental harm. Those constructing the moral panic continually scapegoated
social network sites for the creation of catfishing and its side effects but, the true root cause of catfishing is teen's
inherent behavior. Catfishing was created by teens and the major

Describe and discuss a moral panic from a social science perspective
This essay will look at what a moral panic is and where the term came from. We will then discuss the moral panic of
the rave scene in England during the 1980s and look at how and when rave started and why it caused such a strong
feeling of panic throughout the nation.
The term moral panic was first used by Jock Young to describe his 1960s study on drug users in Cohen's book, Images
of Deviance. However, the concept of moral panics was defined by Stanley Cohen in Folk Devils and Moral Panics.
Cohen identified a moral panic as when "a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined
as a threat to societal values and interests" (Cohen, 1972). In other words, it is when society as a whole has an
unreasonable fear of particular people because of how the media has portrayed them or "a disproportional and hostile
social reaction to a condition, person or group" (McLaughlin and Muncie, 2013).
The first instance of acid house is generally agreed to have occurred in Chicago, 1987, when the ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
The Social Contract states that all people exist under a contract of society in which we agree to do no wrong and in
return we will be kept safe by the people in power; "Every wrongdoer, in attacking the rights of society by his crimes,
becomes a rebel and traitor to his country. By violating its laws he ceases to belong to it ... the preservation of the state
becomes incompatible with his own" (Rousseau, 1994). This is supported by Freud's work in Civilization and Its
Discontents. A large body of people, often tens of thousands, all dancing to the same beat and taking the same drugs
causes a sense of unity and "oceanic oneness" (Freud, 1930) which causes "self/peer identification and de–
identification from parents" (MacDonald et al) and from

Dance Music and Moral Panic
ME5331ass2 Discuss one of the ideas of the following writers in relation to popular music culture: Stanley Cohen. You
may use a case study approach in your answer. Scholars such as Rietveld suggest that; The British Culture has a long
history in regulating pleasures associated with parties. A fear seems to exist of the unregulated body that dances and is
intoxicated...It is therefore not surprising that the acid house parties; that heady mix of house 'n' E events in 1998, were
followed by various moral panics. (Rietveld, 1998, pp. 253–4.) The dance music genre that became popularised in the
late 1980s led to the media amplification and misunderstanding regarding issues surrounding drug misuse as well as
the creation of a moral panic ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Crass also joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in order to work alongside while doing gigs and
raising awareness of socio–political issues. It could be theorised that many other bands such as 'Conflict' and 'Flux of
Pink Indians' also adopted the anarcho–punk style as part of their ideology recognising it as a socio–political ideal
rather than a means to gain further popularity. It can be theorised that the intention of anarcho–punk is to deteriorate
government or outside oppression. They challenge capitalism suggesting that the economic system itself is problematic
and simply a way of producing profit through social hierarchies. In regards to Cohen's theoretical assumptions
regarding societal panic the aforementioned genre of anrcho–punk can be used as an example of how a misunderstood
sub–culture within a popular music genre can be demonised and seen as the cause of the moral and socio–political
problems within society. During the emergence of the punk movement those involved in the culture were perceived by
the media as being dangerous and violent thugs who threatened the established moral system within civilized societies
through lyrical content that directly challenged the status quo. This is evident for example in the lyrics of

Moral Panics: The Social Construction Of Deviance
Moral Panics Criminalized
The term Moral Panic was first introduced in 1972 (Allsopp, 2014). According to Cohen, moral panic is a condition
where an issue threatens society– "Societies appear to be subject, every now and then, to periods of moral panic. A
condition, episode, a person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interest;
its nature is presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media; the moral barricades are manned by
editors, bishops, politicians and other right– thinking people; socially accredited experts pronounce their diagnoses and
solutions; ways of coping are evolved or (more often) resorted to; the condition then disappears, submerges or
deteriorates and becomes more visible. Sometimes the object of the panic is quite novel and at the other time it is
something which has been in existence long enough, but suddenly appears in the ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
(2010). The American Drug Panic of the 1890s. Moral panics: The Social Construction of Deviance. Chapter 12.
Retrieved from http://www.drugtext.org/pdf/Various–general/the–american–drug–panic–of–the–1980s.pdf.
Linnemann, T. (2009). Mad Men, Meth Moms, Moral Panic: (Gathering Meth Crimes in the Midwest, Critical
Criminology. 18:95– 10. doi 10.1007/s10612–009–9094–8
Critcher, C. (2008). Moral Panic Analysis: Past, Present, and Future. Sociology Compass. 1127– 1194. doi
10.1111/j.1751–9020.2008.00122.x
Allsopp, R. (2014). Moral Panics, The Media and Male and Female Offenders of Child Sexual Abuse. Internet Journal
of Crime. Retrieved from http://www.penelopeironstone.com/Critcher.pdf
Ending War on Drugs. The Economist. 350 (8100), 71. http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.wlu.ca/ps/i.do?
id=GALE%7CA53593323&v=2.1&u=wate18005&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=866e3583d048575b9f6b9f3f6b1f500e
Garland, D. (2008). On the concept of moral panic. Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal. 4 (1).

According to Jewkes (2001: p.74), moral panic is referring to public and political reactions to minority or marginalized
individual who appear to be threat to the social values and interest. Moral panic is mostly the consequences when by
the media amplify the deviancy and public responses. The 'bikie gangs' is presented in a stylised and symbolic fashion
by the mass media (Cohen, 2004: 1), fear against 'bikie gangs is among the Australian society. General public concern
about their safety on road and in other occasions because the media tells them that the 'bikie gangs' involve in other
criminal activities. Moral panic now is not simply a social phenomenon of fear towards crime, but rather a social
phenomenon of contemporary media structure, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Since then, 'bikie gangs' is defined as a threat to the public safety and social interest. For sure, this single incident
could not shape this common impression of bikie gangs, there are several crimes which bikie gangs were involved
happened along decades and were widely reported. However, those crimes did not turn 'bikie gangs' into moral panic,
the media do. In a large extent, media choose to report news story with high news values, and group of subcultural
members involve in serious crime contain lots of news values and side stories for journalist to elaborate the news in
their words. Therefore, once there are events related to 'bikie gangs', it will certainly become headlines and follow–ups
will present for at least several days. Since the media has widely over–reported those incidents and the society receives
that information overwhelmingly, it is easy to draw the public attention to this 'social chaos' by the hyperbole from the

Moral Panic
Teenage pregnancy and parenthood are often seen as strictly negative and problematic, with the moral panic
surrounding them only growing as media and government play a role in perpetuating these ideas of negativity
surrounding them. Though it is a contentious issue, what are often ignored are the underlying causes of the social
phenomena that are teenage pregnancy and parenthood. The experiences of poverty and social exclusion by many
pregnant teens and teen parents have not been proven to be more severe than what these young people were
experiencing before, so it brings into question the validity of the moral panic as well as the aims of programs meant to
decrease teen pregnancy and parenthood. Looking at teen pregnancy and parenthood, first ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Low expectations are tied to social inequality, and the "Poverty and social exclusion in Britain" study taken at the time
as the TPS reported that a third of British children and youth were facing poverty and deprivation (Gordon et al.,
2000). Poverty has inexorable ties to these low expectations, as disenfranchisement with institutions of education and
the labour market are part of the vicious cycle of deprivation, and pregnancy is sometimes seen as a way out of this
cycle.
Many further studies into the phenomenon of teenage pregnancy and parenthood, such as Moffitt's 2002 "Teen–aged
mothers in contemporary Britain" conclude that "young mothers encountered more socio–economic deprivation, had
significantly less human and social capital, and experienced more mental health difficulties. Their partners were less
reliable and supportive, both economically and emotionally, and were more antisocial and abusive" (Moffitt, 2002).
This perpetuates the idea that having children does not alleviate poverty or the conditions of it in any way, and in fact
shifts the responsibility on to the individual by implying that these women don't have the motivation to aspire towards
more, and delay pregnancy for that reason. What studies such as this one does is that it ignores the idea that pregnancy
can actually be used effectively

Characteristics Of Moral Panics
Moral panics take place when the media outlets take a fairly ordinary event and turn it extraordinary. Cohen states that
in a moral panic the media identifies a particular group as a folk devil (1972). Essentially folk devils can be identified
as a threat to society's values. This is see when the media presents the group in a negative stereotypical fashion and
again exaggerate the scale of the problem. Moral panics have three distinguishing characteristics. In Bonn's article,
Who Benefits From Public Fear, he states that one characteristic of moral panic includes a focused attention, whether
real or imagined, of certain individuals or groups that are transformed into what Cohen referred to as "folk devils" by
the mass media (2015). Additionally there is a noticeable gap between the concern and object risk poses. Typically this
threat is less than generally perceived because of how the media outlets represent the threat. The level of concern over
time fluctuates greatly. The usual pattern begins with the introduction of the threat, followed by an increase rise and
then peak in public concern, which then therefore, and regularly unexpectedly, dies down.
_________________________
Fear, in this topic, can be defined as an anticipation of victimization, rather than fear of an actual victimization. This
type of fear relates to how vulnerable a person feels. In his article, Fear of crime: A review of the literature, Hale
suggests that the mass media frequently create

Causes Of Moral Panics

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