Effects of labelling: deviance amplification and moral panics

Question 1

Deviance amplification

Answer 1

The deviance amplification spiral is a term labelling theorists use to describe a process in which the attempt to control deviance leads to an increase in the level of deviance. This leads to greater attempts to control it &, in turn, this produces yet higher levels of deviance. More & more control produces more & more deviance, in as escalating spiral or snowballing process

Question 2

Moral panics

Answer 2

Press exaggeration & distorted reporting of the events began a moral panic, with growing public concern & with moral entrepreneurs calling for a ‘crackdown’. The police responded by arresting more youths & the courts imposed harsher penalties. This seemed to confirm the original media reaction which provoked more public concern. At the same time, the demonising of the mods & rockers as ‘folk devils’ caused their further marginalisation as ‘outsiders’, resulting in more deviant behaviour on their part.

Question 3

links between deviance amplification and lemert

Answer 3

The deviance amplification spiral can be seen to be similar to Lemert’s idea of secondary deviance. In both cases, the societal reaction to an initial deviant act leads not to successful control of the deviance, but to further deviance, which in turn leads to a greater reaction & so on. Again, this illustrates an important difference between labelling theory & functionalist theories of deviance – the idea that social control actually leads to deviance.

Question 4

Moral panics outdated?

Answer 4

However, McRobbie & Thornton (1995) argue that ‘moral panics’ as described by Stanley Cohen in the 1960s are outdated & have to be seen in the context of the development of the media & the growing sophistication of the audiences.

They make a number of points to support their argument, including the idea of ‘context’ - whereas moral panics would scapegoat a group & create ‘folk devils’ in the past, there is no longer a single response to a panic as there are many different viewpoints & values in society which most people can access through a growing number of media sources.