Moral Panic Research - Moral Panics and the British Media (16)

Moral Panics and the British Media- A Look At Some Contemporary 'Folk Devils' by Ian Marsh and Gayner Melville

6."The term moral panic has been widely adopted both by the mass media and in everyday usage to refer to exaggerated social reaction caused by the activities of particular groups and/or individuals."

7."Such activities are invariably seen as major social concerns and the media led to reaction magnifies and widens the 'panic' surrounding them"

8."Essentially, a moral panic refers to an exaggerated reaction, from the media, the police or wider public, to the activities of particular social groups."

9."A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests." (Cohen 1972)

10."...The panics associated with such groups have been transient and soon forgotten."

11."The media have long operated as agents of moral indignation in their own right: even if they are not self-concious engaged in crusading or muck-raking, their very reporting of certain 'facts' can be sufficient to generate concern, anxiety, indignation or panic," (Cohen 1972)

12."Of course social reaction does not solely relay on the media. There is also initial, on-the-spot reaction from people who are part of the system of social control, often the police. Nonetheless, the 'Transmission and diffusion of the reaction in the mass media' is, for Cohen, the crucial element of explaining moral panics."

13."Moral panics occur when the media turn reasonably ordinary event and present it as an extraordinary." (Jewkes, 2004)

14."The media, in particular, set in motion a deviance amplification spiral, through which the subjects of the panic are viewed as a source of moral decline and social disintegration." (Jewkes, 2004)

15."Moral panics clarify the moral boundaries of society in which they occcur." (Jewkes, 2004)

16."Moral panics occur during periods of rapid social change and anxiety." (Jewekes, 2004)

17."There is a lack of clarity over the defining characteristics of moral panics."

18."Moral panics are seen as short-lived episodes which fade away after a few weeks or months, however some areas of concern may  last for considerably longer - concerns of juvenile delinquency, for instance, have been present for hundreds of years," 

19."The major impact of the fear narrative associated with moral panics is to promote a 'sense of disorder' but also to defuse such feelings by identifying the problem or crisis as a 'mere proces'."

20."More moral panics will be generated and other, as yet nameless folk devils will be created... because our society as present structured will continue to generate problems for some of its members - like working class adolescents - and then condemn whatever solutions these groups find." (Cohen 1980)

21."...The moral panics involve the focus of the media and the mobilisation of the police, courts and other agencies of social control." (suggested by Young 2009)

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