Bloc 3 Flashcards
Becker
Moral company (Becker)
* All the efforts made by an interest group or lobby tot hat his notions of what is moral or socially appropriate
Becomes law.
Moral entrepreneurs (Becker)
- Groups or individuals who engage in its practice
According to Joseph Gusfield, What are the three levels of constructing a social problem?
- Scientific Rhetoric
-Work to reorganize the “cognitive order”
(Reading grid that allows you to develop definitions of the situation)
- “Owners of public problems » convinced
(Protagonists who have access to political and legal bodies, who have the authority to “say” what is a problem, and who make it “their cause”)
According to Spector and Kitsuse (1977), what is a social problem
Social problem: Not an objective thing but the result of “activities Individuals or groups who make complaints or claims in connection with putative conditions.”
Related to the work of “claim-makers”: people who claim that there is a Problem
According to Best, what are the 6 steps of constructing a social problem?
- Claim-making
- Media coverage
- Reaction of the public
- Policy making
- Social problem work
- Policy outcomes
Step 1. Claim-making
“claim-makers” define a condition/situation as problematic.
Step 2. Media Coverage
Media cover the issue and the “problem” becomes widely known.
Step 3: Public Reaction
Members of the public ask for measures to be taken
Step 4: Developed Policies
Governments pass laws, or Institutions develop regulations, measures, programs
Step 5: Social Problem Work
Implementation of programs, requests for other measures to solve the problem
Step 6. Results (Policy outcomes)
Various results, do not necessarily “fix” the “Problem”, contested answer, spiral effect.
What is Moral Panic?
A mass movement based on the false or exaggerated perception that some cultural behaviour or group of people is dangerously deviant and poses a threat to society’s values and interests. Moral panics are generally fuelled by media, politicians, editors, coverage of social issues.
- Socially accredited experts pronounce their diagnoses and solutions; treatments are formalized and most often implemented”
Folk Devils By Cohen
- For Cohen, they are constructed as a threat by the media and
politicians by process of: - Symbolization: the scapegoat is presented in a way
monolithic, its appearance and identity too
simplistic, as being easy to recognize. - Exaggeration: the facts of the controversy surrounding this group are romanticized, distorted, or simply invented to
help the “moral crusade”. - Prediction: it is announced that other dangerous actions or immoralities of this group must inevitably arise if we
does not act
What are the elements of moral panic
- Concern: There must be a belief that the behavior in question may
have a negative impact on society. - Hostility: We must see hostility towards a group increase. The group becomes one
scapegoat (folk devil). There is a clear division in the discourse between “them” and “us “. - Consensus: The definition of the situation will not be accepted by everyone but it must there be a “certain consensus” on the threat posed. This is manifested by
very vocal “moral entrepreneurs” and “folk devils” and critics of
this speech that seems disorganized. - Disproportionality: The actions or measures taken are disproportionate
compared to the real threat. - Volatility: Moral panics are very volatile and tend to disappear too quickly as they appear since they are linked to media attention.
What is the nature of problems between social problems and panic moral?
Social Problem;
Issues that some members of society considers
problematic.
Moral Panic:
Issues that shock and invoke a very moral reaction
strong for certain members of society and who are often
presented in a stereotypical and hostile manner
What are the origins of perceived from the problem?
Between social problems and panic moral
Social problems:
Organization of the company and inadequate public policies
Moral Panic:
Often a publicized event that may arise from
the problematic organization of society but treated as a threat to be contained
What is the difference of Amplification and perception between social problems and moral panic?
Social Problems:
Require “owners”
of problems (experts, politicians, media) which promote it, but these problems do not tend not to arouse passions. There is room for disagreement.
Moral Panic:
The people carrying this message seem engaged in
a “moral crusade”. Exaggerated presentation, amplification media of a “crisis”. Moral panic tends to eliminate dissenting voices, to create the impression of consensus and urgency.
What are the differences between the political impacts and discourse between social problems and Moral Panic?
Social Problems:
Involve social debates that
can last. Can lead to
policies which themselves
will be the subject of debate
Moral Panic:
Involve more controversies than real debates. tend
to be volatile (a flash in the pan). The policies put in place tend to be disproportionate and to “neutralize” the
threatens rather than modifying social organization
What is the position epistemologique entre, social problems and panic moral?
Social problems:
The theory of social problems is clearly constructivist
Moral Panic:
The theory of moral panics has one foot in the
constructivism and a foot in realism
According to Hall, what is representation?
Representation is the way in which meaning is given to the things depicted. The process of representation enters into the event itself, it does not exists meaningfully, until it has been represented. Representation does not happen after the event, however it is constitutive of the event. Representation is part of the event. “Reality does not exist outside the event, but within the event itself
- There will never be a fixed meaning of events. Representation does not capture the process at all because there was nothing there to fix in the first place to represent
What is culture and conceptual maps?
- Culture is the way in which we make sense of, give meaning to the world. The things that allow us to make sense of the world, Meaning arises because of shared maps people share within each other within society.
- Culture is a system of representation. Concepts allow us to store information of things that we may no longer be inContact with and think about a wide range of things. Concepts are mirror images of concepts that are out there and worlds that no longer exists.
According to Hall, explain reality and discourse
“Nothing meaningful exists outside of its discourse”- is true
“Nothing exists outside of its discourse” is false
In relation to meaning, we need a framework of understanding and interpretation to make sense of it.
Without language meaning cannot be exchanged in the world. Without languages there is no representation.
Ideology and Power (Purpose, Aim, etc)
Meaning depends on a certain kind of fixing. The purpose of power, in its intervention of language, is to absolutely fix. Power and ideology attempts to fix the meaning of images and language. Because the fixing of meaning cannot be guaranteed, it can be unfixed—it can loosen and fray. The relative openness of meaning makes change possible. Meaning can only be changed because it cannot be finally fixed. The purpose of power is to close meaning to stop the flow.
Representation of Policies
Reality exists, but it only has meaning through discourse;
* Therefore the representation is constitutive of reality
- The meaning of representations is socially constructed
- This meaning is never completely fixed
- But power seeks to fix meaning (e.g.: stereotypes)
- There is a constant struggle to impose meaning
- This struggle cannot be understood without an analysis of the
“real” power structures that organize society. - The more the meaning is fixed, the more we think that it is objective “reality” and that it becomes
difficult to define it otherwise (it is a “hegemonic” representation
According to Policing the Crisis (1978) by Stuart Hall, what is the problem and what is the solution?
Response to a structural crisis of capitalism
- Problem: Economic crisis reveals the contradictions of capitalism
Questioning the system (we work and we remain poor)
Risk of making class exploitation obvious
Historical conjecture favorable to a racist moral panic - Solution: Find an enemy, a substitute culprit
Divide the exploited classes
Effect of panic: Unite society against the “folk devils”, place the blame elsewhere
