Research Log 5- Moral Panics

Moral Panics

By Kenneth Thompson

Section 2- Why The Panic?

• 'Increasing rapidity in the succession of moral panics; one barely finishes before another takes its place.'

• 'Britain is not alone in having moral panic, they seem to be increasingly frequent in modern societies as we approach the millennium.' 

• "It is true that the British are alarmed and frightened by social fragmentation and growing violence. It is also true that the moral compasses by which to steer are increasingly uncertain.

           'The real dynamics of social breakdown are left unaddressed."

            (The Observer, 27 October 1996)

• 'They appeal to people who are alarmed by an apparent fragmentation or breakdown of the social order, which leaves them at risk in some way.'

• 'Politicians and some parts of the media are eager to lead the campaign to have action taken that they claim would suppress the threat.'        

• 'The language of moral panic is not new. It is a complaint that has rung down the ages.'

(Quote from Peter Beaumont)

• 'When morality is no longer a question of a few basic rules, authoritatively pronounced on by politicians and church leaders, then society has to argue, debate, negotiate and renegotiate. It is messy, painful, noisy, transparent, often intrusive, but it's far more democratic than the old way.

To Jacques it isn't surprising that the media seemed to present one moral debate after another. (Jacques, in the Guardian, 1996)

• 'Drawing on ideas taken from American sociological theories of deviance and collective behaviour.'

• 'Intensely concerned about a particular issue or perceived threat- which, as measured by concrete indicators, turns out not to be especially damaging' (Goode and Ben Yehuda 1994)