Media And Moral Panic Flashcards
Moral panic
How the media creates stories about crime + create panic among the population - threatening the moral standards of society which is usually exaggerated
Cohn’s theory: mods + rockers case study
Studied media representations of mods and rockers in the 1960’s, focused on the media’s reaction to youth disturbances on beeches. The media blew out of proportion the small scuffles + vandalism - created a culture of fear amongst the adults that youths were out of control
Stage 1 of moral panic
Individual/group commit an act of deviance - media reports on the initial reports on the identification of a problem, reporting on their characteristics + nature of the deviant behaviour
Stage 2 of moral panic
News headlines use sensations language + dramatic pictures to capture people’s attention - day of terror
Stage 3 of moral panic
To maintain their interest, the media continues to report on the problem group + identify symbols to them, for example ordinary teenagers who looked like mods/rocker found themselves getting more negative attention from the police + general adults - media created the impression they were a threat
Stage 4 of moral panic
The moral panic is consolidated with the general public openly expressing fear about the problem identified even if there is little to worry about
Deviance amplification
Other people become attracted to the problem group or seek it out for the excitement - leads to the police targeting the group more
Postmodern views
Post modern society is characterised by a heightened consciousness of risk caused by a disintegration of old cultural identities that prev ensured stability
Postmodern views: example
As people become less religious + society become diverse, people feel less unified + stable moreover, new risks that are beyond the control of individuals such as fear of global warming/ nuclear risk
Postmodern views: moral panic
Symptom of the risk consciousness that society characterises today, the media deliberately reports upon deviant activities in a way that insists fear because they know that people will be triggered
Interactionist views
Argue that moral panic seem to arise most often when a society is undergoing a ‘ moral crisis ‘ where people are in conflict with one another over how to behave
First moral panic happened in the 1950’s + 1960’s, conceived with youth as an age category becomes a distinctive consumer group for the first time
Suggest that the older generation was concerned that such social + economic developments were undermining moral order + adult authority - moral panic is a product of social change
Marxism views
Argue that moral panic is an ideological tool of the capitalist class, aimed at diverting attention from the crisis caused by capitalism + dividing + ruiling sections of the working class
In the 1970’s, the ruiling class was challenged as there was economic recession, news created stories about mugging to turn the white w,c, against the black w,c, - criticisms of the ruiling class left
Realism views
Moral panics are often based on reality + fact, the groups identified are often a real threat to those living in inner city areas
Portraying such crime as a fantasy product of the mass media is naive + denies the great harm that some types of crime do to particular communities, or the sense of threat that older people feel - moral panics are probably justified in many cases
