Stanley Cohen (1972)
2/17/2013
Identity theory: Focus = Moral Panic The media create hysteria about a group (Mods/Rockers). MORAL PANIC. Largely this refers to the media sensationalising an event and then calling for a punishment. Deviancy Amplification Spiral. Media fuels problems in society. Cohen studied the media response to the mods and rockers riots in the 1960s. He argued that from time to time ‘folk devils’ emerge in a society which reflect the anxieties of society at that time (e.g. mods and rockers reflect social anxiety about the emergence of youth culture, rock and roll, etc.). A moral panic occurs when the media reports on these ‘folk devils’ in a sensationalised way which leads to intervention by politicians, and the police. The effect of a moral panic is to reassert hegemony by allowing a society to make clear what values it does not accept. The representation of working class youths suggest they have become a contemporary ‘folk devil’, perhaps tapping into economic anxieties, concern about a benefits culture, and long term unemployment. Some video clips on moral panic
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