Studies on moral panics

Question 1

Jock Young – ‘The Drugtakers’ (1971)

Answer 1

Young was intrigued by how the use of some types of ‘drugs’, such as caffeine or wine, is constructed as acceptable, whereas taking others, such as cannabis, is not. Through participant observation he noticed how marijuana users in Notting Hill led otherwise normal lives until the police decided to crackdown on the habit & the press publicised this.

The result was that users became secretive & formed subcultures, which eventually led many to drop out of normal life & even take harder drugs. Thus their primary deviance became more serious secondary deviance in response to action by formal agents of social control.

Question 2

Stanley Cohen – ‘Folk Devils & Moral Panics’ (1972)

Answer 2

Cohen was interested in a situation which began with isolated fights between young people at Clacton on Easter weekend in 1964.

Being short of news, the media exaggerated, implying that the two groups involved, Mods & Rockers, hated each other. This attracted bored youths to potential trouble spots & to join one group or the others, while the press whipped up hostility between them.

Police then felt pressured to arrest more than usual. The media created a moral panic by presenting the youths as folk devils, resulting in deviancy amplification. Cohen interviewed those involved, observed court proceedings & compared what was said with the media reports.

Question 3

Stuart Hall – ‘Policing the Crisis’ (1978)

Answer 3

In 1972 government mishandling of various events had made it very unpopular. Using media analysis, Hall argued that journalists scapegoated young Black males by presenting exaggerated stories of mugging, to frighten the public into supporting a police crackdown & forgetting about protests. Some Black youths became wound up by frequent police searches, leading to increased public order offences, a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Question 4

A03

Answer 4

• McRobbie & Thornton (1995) argue that moral panics are now routine & have less impact. Today’s media audiences are used to ‘shock, horror’ stories, are much more media literate & are able to understand the context & process of moral panics.
• There is also less consensus about what is deviant & so it is harder for the media to create panics. • Media professionals do not all have a shared world view – e.g. there is likely to be a big difference in the politics of someone who works for The Sun & someone who works for The Guardian.
• Also, it is hard to prove that owners of the mass media are acting in the interests of ruling class. • Cohen doesn’t explain why the media are able to amplify some problems into a panic, but not others, nor why panics come to an end rather than continuing to amplify indefinitely.