Thread by @pmarca

"A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear, often an irrational one, that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society."

"It is 'the process of arousing social concern over an issue,' usually perpetuated by moral entrepreneurs and the mass media, and exacerbated by politicians and lawmakers."

"Moral panic happens when 'a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values & interests.'  While the issues identified may be real, the claims 'exaggerate the seriousness, extent, typicality and/or inevitability of harm.'"

"Examples of moral panic include the belief in widespread abduction of children by predatory pedophiles; belief in ritual abuse of women and children by Satanic cults; and concerns over the effects of music lyrics."

"Those who start the panic after fearing a threat to prevailing social or cultural values are 'moral entrepreneurs', while those who supposedly threaten social order have been described as 'folk devils'."

"Stanley Cohen investigated a series of 'moral panics' in Folk Devils and Moral Panics. Cohen describes the reaction among the British public to the seaside rivalry between the 'mod' and "rocker' youth subcultures of 60s/70s. In a moral panic, 'the untypical is made typical.'"

"Characterizing the reactions to the mod and rocker conflict, Stanley Cohen identified four key agents in moral panics: mass media, moral entrepreneurs, the culture of social control, and the public."

"According to Cohen, there are five sequential stages in the construction of a moral panic:"

"1. An event, condition, episode, person, or group of persons is perceived and defined as a threat to societal values, safety, and interests."

"2. The nature of these apparent threats are amplified by the media, who present the supposed threat through simplistic, symbolic rhetoric. Such portrayals appeal to public prejudices, creating an evil in need of social control (folk devils) and victims (the moral majority)."

"3. A sense of social anxiety and concern among the public is aroused through these symbolic representations of the threat."

"4. The gatekeepers of morality—editors, religious leaders, politicians, and other 'moral'-thinking people—respond to the threat, with socially-accredited experts pronouncing their diagnoses and solutions to the 'threat'. This includes new laws or policies."

"5. The condition then disappears, submerges or deteriorates."

"Sometimes the panic passes over and is forgotten, except in folk-lore and collective memory; at other times it has more serious and long-lasting repercussions and might produce such changes as those in legal and social policy or even in the way the society conceives itself."

"Stanley Cohen identified four key agents in moral panics: mass media, moral entrepreneurs, the culture of social control, and the public."

"1. Media—producing 'coded images' of deviance and the deviants.  This involves three processes:

Exaggeration and distortion of who did or said what;

Prediction, the dire consequences of failure to act;

Symbolization, signifying a person, word, or thing as a threat."

"2. Moral entrepreneurs — individuals and groups who target deviant behavior."

"3. Societal control culture — comprises those with institutional power: the police, the courts, and local and national politicians. They are made aware of the nature and extent of the 'threat'; concern is passed up to the national level, where control measures are instituted."

"4. The public — these include individuals and groups. They have to decide who and what to believe."

"Stanley Cohen stated that the mass media is the primary source of the public's knowledge about deviance and social problems. He further argued that moral panic gives rise to the 'folk devil' by labelling actions and people."

"Benjamin Radford listed themes that he commonly observed in modern versions of moral panics:

1. Hidden dangers of modern technology.

2. Evil stranger manipulating the innocent.

3. A 'hidden world' of anonymous evil people."

"The advent of any new medium of communication produces anxieties among self-appointed protectors of childhood and culture. Their fears are often based on lack of knowledge of the actual capacities or usage of the medium. Moralizing organizations commonly advocate censorship."

"Every time a new mass medium has entered the social scene, it has spurred public debates on social and cultural norms, debates that serve to reflect, negotiate and possibly revise these very norms. Debate of a new medium brings about heated, emotional reactions-a 'media panic'."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_pan…