Moral Panic Theory

1. Moral Panic Theory

2. The Social Construction of Reality • Peter Berger and Thomas Luckman, 1966 • Knowledge is derived from and maintained by social interaction • The meanings of anything are the product of human interpretations and are not in nature • Our understandings of the world are produced by us, are socially constructed

3. Moral Panics • Stanley Cohen (1972) Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of the Mods and the Rockers • A study of subculture and the media’s role in defining social problems

4. Cohen’s Case Study • Conflict between Mods (Modernists) and Rockers, in Clacton on Easter Sunday, 1964 • Two groups fought, resulting in some vandalism and property damage • In the end, 97 arrested • Followed by events inBrighton and Margate

5. Conclusions • The media's coverage of the episode was subject to exaggeration and distortion of the facts, giving the impression the event was more violent than it actually was. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud5vP0RwNy0

6. The Who’s Quadrophenia • Record released October 1973 • Film released 1979 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYlSjawXzko

7. Moral Panics Moral Panic, defined: “A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests”

8. The Role of Media • An 'amplification' takes place through the media • It appeals to the public so that they concur with ready-made opinions about the course of action to be taken

9. Actors in the Moral Drama • Experts, sometimes called “moral entrepreneurs,” both inform and are informed by media • Politicians and policy makers • Law enforcement • Action groups • Agents of formal social control • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM8t29gD8J8

10. Social Control Moral panics function to support and legitimize particular kinds of social control through: • Identifying a “social problem”; • Simplifying its cause; 3) Stigmatizing those involved; 4) Stirring up public indignation or concern.

11. The Disaster Analogy: Panic Parallels • Warning • Sensitization to cues of danger • Coping mechanisms • Overreactions • Institutionalization of the threat • False alarms

12. Seven “Stations” of Moral Panic: Chas Critcher • AIDS • Child Abuse • Drug Use • Immigration • Violence in the media • Street Crime • Youth “deviance”

13. Goode and Ben Yehuda (1994)Moral Panics: The Social Construction of Deviance 1. Concern 2. Hostility 3. Consensus 4. Disproportionality 5. Volatility

14. Concern • Concern mobilized • Becomes a subject for news media focus • Can generate anxiety, but not always accompanied byfear • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvIyypo9VQk&feature=fvst • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvIyypo9VQk&feature=fvst

15. Hostility • Us versus Them • Good versus Evil • Morality play • Folk devils (villains) and folk heroes • Hostility to others expressed in stereotypes

16. Consensus Fairly widespread recognition that a social problem exists It need not include everyone, but enough to convey a general sense of concern Consensus can be built. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiYqFXmVAFg

17. Disproportion • Miscalculation or overestimation of the size of the problem, including the number of people involved • Fabrication of figures • Rumours or urban legends • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTdmr5_tbfY

18. Volatility • Moral panics appear suddenly and can disappear just as quickly • CBC report on Dungeons & Dragons, 1980s • http://archives.cbc.ca/lifestyle/leisure/clips/17284/

19. Overlapping domains • Deviance (to which we can add constructions of norms and normalization) • Social problems • Collective behaviours • Social movements

20. Three Theories of the Origins of Moral Panics: • Marxist Theory • Moral Panics serve the interests of the elite, who benefit from them in some way.

21. The Grassroots Theory • Moral Panics begin in and emerge out of the people. • Moral panics are populist, they reflect the anxieties and fears of the people.

22. Interest- Group Theory • Interest-groups, which reflect the middle level of power and are not to be confused with the elite, have their own agendas, including maximizing their own ideology and morality or seeking material or status advantages

23. Ideology and Hegemony? • Goode and Ben Yehuda suggest that moral panics need not be “ideological,” while others suggest that they are always ideological. • How should we conceive of ideology and hegemony as they are expressed in Moral Panics?

24. Case Study: Comic Books • Frederic Wertham, Seduction of the Innocent, 1954 • Call for a Comic Code Authority • http://www.comicartville.com/comicscode.htm • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr62iKBwQTM

25. Erving Goffman (1974) Framing Theory • The ways that stories are framed influences the meaning they will have • Definitions of a situation are constructed in accordance with principles of organization which govern events and our subjective involvement in them

26. Frames Defined • Frames are cognitive structures which guide perception and representations of reality • They structure which parts of reality get noticed • They are not necessarily consciously manufactured and are often unconsciously adopted

27. Todd Gitlin’s (1980) definition • “Frames are principles of selection, emphasis and presentation composed of little tacit theories about what exists, what happens, and what matters.” • In sort, frames structure our attention

28. Media Effects • What effects does our consumption of media have on our understandings of the world?

29. Cultivation Theory – George Gerbner • TV viewing has quantitatively observable effects on the perceptual worlds of audiences • Watching violence on TV creates an exaggerated belief that the world is violent or, in his words, “mean and scary”

30. The Hypodermic Model • Also known as the “Magic Bullet theory” • The passive audience is injected with ideas about the world by media

31. Agenda Setting Theory McComb and Shaw • The agenda of the media and the public agenda are closely matched • The media’s agenda setting function means that there is a high correlation between media and the public ordering of priorities • People are more likely to attribute importance to an event, issue, or idea because of media exposure

32. Moral Panics Vs .... How Risk is Defined in MPs: • Risk found in people • Risks are time limited and infinitely substitutable • Risks lead to scape- goating • Risks are created by media • Moral outrage is the outcome • Moral panics can create a culture of fear

33. ...Vs Risk Society Risk Defined in Risk Society: • Risk found in our environments • Risks are not bound to space and time • Risks are defined not for purposes of blame but for purposes of increased control • Risks are created by science and knowledge • Moral imperatives to risk aversion are the outcome • Risk knowledges can create a culture of fear

34. What gets defined as a panic and what not depends on who is doing the defining. • Political agendas and selectivity • Pedagogies of fear

35. Technical explanations: • Media amplification or attenuation of risk • Most people get information by way of media • Fear sells

36. Social explanations: • Change is experienced as risk • Concern about the future • Impossibility of knowing • Diminished humanity • Reconciling limits • All collect under the umbrella of the last theme: Diminished sense of control