Download - Moral Panic
Exam revision.
MORAL PANIC
First coined by Jock Young (1971) in Cohen’s ‘Images of Deviance’ (1972)
Analytic descriptive concept used to define a deviant group or event in a particular segment of society – characterized by a heightened sense of panic and exaggerated threat –
quick in emergence and subsidence.
DEFINITION
Cohen, Lemert and Becker studied how power officials were able to give and take power to certain groups in
society.
Cohen researched group behaviour as part of post grad and witnessed the Mods and Rocker phenomenon
Observed how the groups were stereotyped by the media and thus acted out accordingly
Stated that the media were the actors whom conveyed the panic and the public accepted and ran with it.
Cohen identified 5 central factors which conveyed a MP
BRIEF HISTORY
Media – emphasised and stereotyped group
Public – Exaggerated sense of threat and hostility towards perceived group
Law Enforcement – Broadened and enforced by implementing laws
Political Officials – Take side of moral high route to win public opinion
Action Groups – fight against perceived threat for good of ‘repressed’ victims.
Cohen described a MP as a group response to threat
He stated that this is not unusual
Society is known to periodically witness and experience MP
Reflective of societal norms and values
Useful for researchers to understand important morals in society at any given time
Said to have given most descriptive analysis of MP by various researchers
Compared MP to collective behaviour in that rumour mongering, fear and exaggerated sense of threat occur
Also compared MP to national disasters
GOODE AND BEN YEHUDA (1994)
Both go through same phases H/E National disaster does not contain folk devils
Impact phase – event occurs
Damage Assessment – media state damage
Survivor recovery – victims ‘saved’
Remedy plans – law enforcement
Recovery phase – Action
NATIONAL DISASTER COMPARISONGOODE & BEN-YEHUDA (1994)
Identified factors which occurred during MP
Hostility – general grievance against group
Volatility – sudden eruption of events
Consensus – public generally in agreement over ‘folk devils’
Heightened sense of threat – exaggerated fears
Disproportionality – numbers stated by media at higher rate than actual occurrence
GOODE AND BEN-YEHUDA (1994) CONT
Disproportionality is said to be the most significant factor in any MP
Many individuals experience heightened fear, threat etc. due to the disproportionate levels stated
However criticised by theorists as we don’t know if views were proportionate pre or post MP
Moral Panic situations are relatively short lived however some of them actually never truly die out
Single mothers, immigration, benefit cheats
Moral panics said to thus give power to officials and higher in society. (Hall 1978)
MP can centre around serious or trivial events
Serious; Terrorism, immigration, HIV
Trivial; Black mugger, comic book violence
MORAL PANIC
Swine Flu
Interprets MP from a Marxist perspective
States that MP are simply a way of the powerful elite to divert attention from a crisis in capitalism
Those with power use MP in order to repress the weak in society
Black Mugging was an example of this
Crisis taken away from Britain in economic recession
Attention placed on immigration and crime laws
STUART HALL (1978)
Intro the notion that power lies with those who are able to describe and define a situation
Labelling will result in the group acting and behaving differently due to self fulfilling prophecy
Suggests that deviance is not natural - constructed by those who hold power
LEMERT (1956)
Examined the key dynamics of the labelling process
Stated that the process is simply to justify the control and exclusion of vulnerable groups in society
BECKER (1968)
Goffman stated that Stigma serves to show the impact that MP creates
Power is gained over the weak by producing certain stigmatizing labels
Public thus view those individuals in different light
Treated differently and thus act differently.
STIGMA
1950’S US fear violence in Comic books aimed at children – resulted in mass clean outs and burnings of comics in
question
1960’S British Mods and Rockers – blown out of proportion and actually caused more riots due to labelling theory
1970’S Black Mugger – see Stuart Hall (1978)
1980’S Baby boom
1990’S drug and rave/rap culture
2000’s Terrorism
2010 – Obesity – childhood
EXAMPLES
MMR vaccine and Autism link
Childhood violence and video games
Gun and Knife crime
Millennium bug
Internet technology
Exercise and heart disease
Smoking
Iraq and WMD
Cervical cancer (Jade Goody)
MRSA
Britain’s Debt crisis
Pornography
IVF designer babies
OTHER GENERAL EXAMPLES
‘Call of Duty’
Does the term constitute official sociological category – no methodology or empirical evidence
Groups/deviants looked at as victims
Emphasis taken away from actual victims
Overstate power of the media
Underestimate power of excluded groups to re-label – Gay men.
CRITICISMS OF MP
Cohen, Becker, Lemert et al all give descriptions and analysis re MP
State that the media’s sole purpose is to create MP in order to control society
Use own views and emphasize significance in order to pass agenda outwith politics
Criticised – Do we emulate the media or does the media emulate our views and morals?
SUMMARY