What are Moral Panics?

By Hayley Burn: A Summary

• Discusses Stanley Cohen's work and his coinage of the term 'moral panic'.
• incidents that could have been kept at a local level are amplified by mass media.
• youth cultures in each era are associated with certain types of violence which provoke public reaction and emotion.
• society cannot accept responsibility for its own failures and so they look to find someone who can be incriminated. 
• amplification which takes place through the media's work serves to appeal to the public so they can concur with ready-made opinions about the course of action to be taken with the 'moral barricade' e.g. politicians or editors.
• media's coverage of events such as Mods V Rockers conflicts were exaggerated and distorted.
• majority of people in society share common values of reality and what is acceptable and not acceptable.
• Eldridge explains "Rather than manipulating in the sense of trying to get people to change their views or politics, by reinforcing what is already present in society it gives the public what it wants." [Eldridge 1997: 63]
• Cohen's 'control culture' failed to deal with the problem presented to them, which is why the topic of youth culture has continued to reappear at various points in our society.
• More moral panics will be generated and other, as yet nameless, folk devils will be created. This is not because such developments have an inexorable inner logic, but because our society as present structured will continue to generate problems for some of its members...and then condemn whatever solution these groups find. [Cohen 1987:204]