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What is a Moral Panic?

WHAT ARE MORAL PANICS?

Moral panics are instances of mass fear based on the false or exaggerated perception that some cultural behavior or group of people is dangerously deviant and poses a threat to society's values and interests.

Such panics are fostered by mass media and exploited by self-appointed moralists and politicians.

First coined by Jock Young (1971) and, later, Stanley Cohen (1972) when he studied the public reaction to youths called “mods and rockers” in Brighton, England during the 1960's.

MORAL PANIC EXAMPLES

Salem Witch Trials, 1692-93

McCarthyism, 1950s

Satanic Panic, 1980s-90s

QAnon, 2017-present

Moral panics arise when distorted mass media campaigns are used to create fear, reinforce stereotypes and exacerbate preexisting divisions in the world, often based on race, ethnicity and social class.

Many social problems have been the basis of distorted mass media campaigns. Do you remember any of these moral panics?

  • Youth gangs
  • School violence
  • Widespread child abuse
  • Satanism

ANATOMY OF A MORAL PANIC

Concern

  • Event sparks social anxiety

Volatility

  • Moral panic emerges and disappears suddenly (often when another moral panic takes its place)

Disproportionality

  • Threat is exaggerated
  • Examples of exaggerations: number of individuals involved, level and extent of violence, amount of damage caused

Consensus

  • Fear of this subculture becomes the dominant narrative in media and social discussion

Hostility

  • Subculture is seen as ‘folk devils’ who are looked upon with hostility

-Goode and Ben Yehuda, 1994

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