Moral Panics outdated?

Question 1

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Answer 1

McRobbie & Thornton (1995) argue that ‘moral panics’ as described by Stanley Cohen in the 1960s are outdated & have to be seen in the context of the development of the media & the growing sophistication of the audiences.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 the following points to support their argument including:

• Frequency: There has been an increasing number of ‘moral panics’ – they are no longer particularly rare or noteworthy.
• 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

. • Difficulty: Moral panics are much more unlikely to start in society because it is far less clear today what is undeniably ‘bad’. Society is too fragmented & culturally pluralistic.