Moral Panic Theory - A1

Moral Panic Theory

Moral Panic Theory by Stanley Cohen, suggests that moral panic occurs when someone or something is defined by the media as a threat to the values or interests of society.

Cohen suggested in his 1972 book ‘Folk Devils and Moral Panics’ that a moral panic occurs when a “condition, episode, person or group of people emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests”.

He believes the media play an important role in enforcing moral panic, even by just reporting the news.

In Cohen’s view, the media overreact or sensationalise aspects of behaviour that challenge social norms. 

The media’s representation therefore then helps to define it, which can then lead to outsiders adopting and observing the behaviour based on the model they see in the media. The moral panic depicted by the media fuels further unacceptable behaviour.

In extreme cases, moral panic creates mass hysteria within society. The general public starts to believe whatever is being reported on is occurring everywhere in society.

Cohen defined his five stages of moral panic as:

• Something or someone is defined as a threat to values or interests
• This threat is depicted in an easily recognisable form by the media
• There is a rapid build-up of public concern
• There is a response from authorities or opinion makers
• The panic recedes or results in social changes

Examples of Moral Panics

Mass Shooting 

After the Columbine High School shooting happened on April 20, 1999, people began to become very worried about school shootings. Many Americans with children in grades K–12 believed it was very likely for a shooting similar to the Columbine massacre to happen in their community. Perpetrators of school shootings are often discussed in terms of their consumption of violent media such as movies, music, and video games. Their access to firearms, their social standing among their peers, and their mental health status are also causes of the mass shootings that media texts consider. Mental illness has also become a common frame in which school shooters are discussed by the media, despite the fact that mentally ill persons are less likely than non-disordered individuals to commit acts of violence. Studies show that the media reporting constantly on mass shootings inspires more mass shootings to happen, creating copycats. 

 

HIV/AIDS 

In the 1980s, a moral panic was created within the media over HIV/AIDS. AT some point, health care professionals began to voice an increased concern with the growing media attention and fear-mongering that AIDS was attracting. The media outlets nicknamed HIV/AIDS the "gay plague", which further stigmatized the disease. The illness was negatively viewed by many as either being caused by or passed on through the gay community. In the United States, AIDS was first named ‘Gay-Related Immune Deficiency’ after a high prevalence in gay and bisexual men infected with the disease was noted. Homophobic attitudes were fostered, and phrases like ‘AIDS Kills Fags Dead’” and ‘AIDS cures fags’ became widespread. Once scientists gained a far better understanding of HIV/AIDS, the moral panic created by the media changed to blaming the overall negligence of ethical standards by the younger generation. 

 

Terrorism 

After the September 11 attacks in 2001, widespread fear of terrorism has grown in the United States. The United States began the War on Terror, which included war in Afghanistan and a war in Iraq. Following the September 11 attacks, there was a dramatic increase in hate crimes against Muslims and Arabs in the United States, with rates peaking in 2001 and later surpassing in 2016. Anti-Islamic sentiment became an issue for Muslims in the United States after the September 11 attacks and it continued when the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) became an issue in the 2010s. As a result, many Muslims are believed to be experiencing discrimination for their religion in the past year. Due to the media’s constant report on this issue, people are attacking and discriminating against innocent Muslims as they blame Muslims for terror attacks and other crimes.