Moral Panic - "a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges as a threat to societal values and interests".
The features of this Moral Panic are:
- Concern - the behaviour of a particular group of people is portrayed as a threat
- Disproportionality - over exaggeration of evidence
- Volatility - the situation erupts dramatically
- Hostility - "Folk devils" are created to cause a diversion (e.g "Youths" or "Hoodies")
- Consensus - widespread acceptance of the created threat
Stanley Cohen wrote a book about moral panic in the media and society ("Folk Devils and Moral Panics") and gained public intrest in his theory of this. Pete Doherty is a prime example of the Moral Panic due to his drug and alcohol driven lifestyle. The media would try to make society think that he was 'poisoning' young people and causing them to act like him in order to lead a similar lifestyle.
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