Moral Panic?

Hi all,
Is a moral panic the media exaggerating the extent of what used to be a mundane, low-profile phenomenon such as crimes amongst girls. This then arouses unnecessary fear amongst the public??

Regards,

Alice.

Reply 1

gcseangel

8

Alice_G

Hi all,
Is a moral panic the media exaggerating the extent of what used to be a mundane, low-profile phenomenon such as crimes amongst girls. This then arouses unnecessary fear amongst the public??

Regards,

Alice.

Yeah and that creates a folk devil group which is the group the media has targeted and exaggerating about. Are you doing OCR exam in Jan??"?

Reply 2

emmers1990

Stanley Cohen - Folk Devils and Moral Panic.

Reply 3

adelante

2

Moral Panics have several distinct features. The process by which these are created is best explained with Cohen's Deviancy Amplification Spiral:

Concern - There must be awareness that the behaviour of the group or category in question is likely to have a negative impact on society.
Hostility - An increase in hostility towards the group in question and they become "folk devils". A clear division forms between "them" and "us".
Consensus - Though concern does not have to be nationwide, there must be widespread acceptance that the group in question poses a very real threat to society. It is important at this stage that the "moral entrepreneurs" are vocal and the "folk devils" appear weak and disorganised.
Disproportionality - The public is given statistics that are disproportionate to the actual threat posed by the accused group.
Volatility - Moral panics are highly volatile and tend to disappear as quickly as they appeared due to a wane in public interest or news reports changing to another topic.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_panic

Moral Panic?

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