representation of youth and moral panic

Jack Campbell

Collective identity is a shared set of ideas in a group. This makes us feel that we have a purpose and that we fit into society. It makes us feel both needed and wanted. In most cases, teenagers are given extremely negative representation by the press- The Independent found that the word most commonly used to describe youth was ‘Yobs’ (591 times), followed by "thugs" (254 times), "sick" (119 times) and "feral" (96 times).

Folk Devils and Moral Panics (1972)

‘A Moral Panic occurs when a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests.’

1 Concern– Awareness of a negative impact on society

2 Hostility- Towards the group to separate them from society and to ‘folk devil’ “them” from “us”

3 Consensus- A wide group of society accept the threat of the group in question

4 Disproportionality- The action taken is disproportionate to the actual threat posed (exaggeration of the crime in the media)

5 Volatility- They can easily disappear as soon as they came and move on to a new topic

Cohen says that the negative press coverage around teenagers means they end up being seen as ‘folk devils’. A moral panic is a small period of time in which the majority of society sensationalise an event and place the blame on one group of people. The press often manipulate messages to create moral panics as this means they will sell more copies of their publication. The way the press report stories is often irresponsible and blatantly untrue, however we believe the stories as we live in a ‘blame culture society’.