moral panics - media and culture course & resources · 2015. 2. 19. · moral panics and the...
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Moral Panics
Moral panics – what are they
Stages in moral panics
Who are the folk devils?
Examples
Binge drinking, terrorism, hoodies
Moral panics and the media
Other ways of thinking about moral panics and alternatives
Essay question – relationship between the media and moral panics
Learning outcome 1: Identify principal issues in Media and Cultural Studies
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What are moral panics?
British Sociologist Jock Young –first published reference to moral panic (1971)
Cohen analysed Mods and Rockers in 1970s
Cohen (1972 cited in Thompson 1998, pp.7-8) ‘A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerge to become defined as a threat to society values and interests’
Troubling behaviour
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Stages of Moral Panics Stage 1
An event attracts media coverage
Intensive media surveillance
Stage 2
Wider social implications of the event fuelled by media concern and debate
Primary definers interviewed (expert and professional opinions)
Folk devils identified (things/people that threaten society)
Stage 3
Response from authorities
Social control
Legislation implemented
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Morals, Folk Devils and Panics
Morals – threat to values/beliefs/ways of live/society as a whole
Folk devils – things/people that threaten society and are perceived as evil
Panic – exaggerated/irrational responses
Groups who can instigate moral panics
Press, pressure groups, politicians, police, public opinion
If the above all agree on a moral panic it is powerful
But there are potential conflicts of interest
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Example 1: Binge Drinking
Young people 16-25 year olds getting drunk fast
Causing nuisance in city centres and threat to public order
Contradictions (government receives tax on alcohol and more liberal licensing hours)
Police – alcohol causes disorder
Law creators conflict with law enforces
Therefore not a fully fledged moral panic
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Percentage of Adults in UK who never drink alcohol
Source: Telegraph Online
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Example 2: Terrorism
Fear of terrorism
News persuades opinion
Exaggeration of number of evildoers
Threatened by an internal enemy
Acts which enable authorities to scrutinise electronic communications
Power of indefinite detention without trial (breach of Human Rights Act)
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Example 3: Hoodies Banned from Bluewater shopping
centre
Hoodies associated with moral decline among youth in UK
Excluded people from gathering in the centre
Three stages
Event (youth wearing hoodies perceived as criminal)
Media coverage – news reports, programmes like Little Britain fuelled this perception
Control – banning of hoodies
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Moral panics and the Media
Effects ideas about the media
Children who commit violent acts
Video games and horror films highlighted in such instances
Effects model outdated
‘For some children under some conditions, some television is harmful. For other children under the same conditions, it may be beneficial. For most children under most conditions television is probably neither harmful nor particularly beneficial’ (Schramm et al. 1961 in Briggs and Cobley 1998: pp. 260-261)
No direct effect/cause relationship between media and behaviour.
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Other ways of thinking about moral panics
Face awkward questions about social problems
Defining, labelling, punishing unacceptable behaviour confirms who we are, what we believe and stand for
Highlights boundaries around communities
Moral panics challenges central values in mainstream society
Trying to control social changes
And reconfirm moral values
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Not a moral panic
To what degree something has or has not become a moral panic
Or deviates from a typical moral panic
Often occurs where there is agreement about the seriousness/implications of the issue
And where different interested groups agree on this (e.g. police, politicians, press, public)
Resistance to moral panics may occur
Moral panics may be derailed.
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What you do/don’t believe
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Alternative models
Elite engineered model
Moral panic is manufactured to divert attention
Grassroots model
Provides release for social insecurity
All models – the threat is exaggerated
Justifies legislation
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Essay Question
Explore the relationship between the media and moral panics
1500 words, 50%
You could choose one moral panic or more than one to focus on
You could explore the media reporting of a moral panic in press, television etc.
Think about whether the moral panic fits the criteria of a moral panic or not?
You can use Box of Broadcasts for television
Blog contribution – 2 parts: Skills gained and how you have used the feedback from assignment 1
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Summary
Moral panics are about changes that occur
Which threaten something about societal morals/values/behaviour
Stages of moral panics
Not everything reaches stage 3
Some moral panics fade away, some reoccur
Moral panics may be useful for governments wanting to pass legislation
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References
Briggs, A. and Cobley, P. (2002) The Media, An introduction, Harlow, Pearson.
Cohen, S. (2992) Folk Devils and Moral Panics, London, Routledge.
Critcher, C. (2003) Moral Panics and the Media, Buckingham, Open University Press.
Goode, E. & Ben-Yehuda, N. (2009) Moral Panics: The Social Construction of Deviance. Malden, Wiley-Blackwell.
Thompson, K. (1998) Moral Panics, London, Routledge.