Moral Panic Essay

From the overthrowing of the Russian Tsar to the exile of the Nationalists, the world has been in a state where radical movements have been the main focus of citizens, even in democratic societies. The October Crisis was one of these extraordinary events that had occurred. It was a period of international and national revolutionary movements that used violent acts against constitutional measures. The 1970 October Crisis was a pivotal moment that had an undeniable and lasting impact on Canadians as it revealed the wisdom of Trudeau’s decision to enact the War Measures Act, demonstrated that the FLQ (a left-winged terrorist organization) was not a good representative of the French-Canadians, and it

After twenty years of disputing land claims, there are still differing views over whether the relationship between the First Nations and the government improved. Over the past several decades, indigenous people in Canada have mounted hundreds of collective action events such as marches, road blockades, and land occupations. Moreover, the Oka Crisis is a land dispute between the Mohawks and the town of Oka, that began on July eleventh nineteen ninety and it lasted until the end of September of the same year. The seventy eight day standoff between Quebec police and the Mohawks of Kanesatake garnered a tremendous amount of media attention that summer. The dispute began with the idea of installing a golf course and two condominiums on a stretch

In human societies there will always be issues or problems that occur which cause some form of reaction from those who feel that their values or societal equilibrium is being threatened. Stanley Cohen and Jock Young led the way in explaining the notion of moral panics and how they are formed and their consequences on society. There have been numerous of these moral phenomena over the years, which have gripped society in a vice lock of terror and more often than not, ignorance. This essay will discuss the concept of the moral panic and look at the case of HIV/AIDS which caused a huge conflict of morality within society. This essay will also analyse the failings of health organisations, politicians, and the

Mass hysteria is a phenomenon that transmits collective allusions of threats through a population in society as a result of rumors and fear. The Crucible by Arthur Miller accurately portrays mass hysteria that took place during the Salem witch trials of 1692. People were accused based on revenge or other malicious motives and to make the situation worse, nothing about the trials was logical. After a few people were accused, fear set into the town and everyone was viewed as a witch until proven innocent. Mass hysteria not only happened during the Salem witch trials, but right after the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001 as well. Mass hysteria ties into both the accusations made in The Crucible and the islamophobia that set in after 9/11.

In the article, “Moral Panics: Culture, Politics, and Social Construction” by Erich Goode and Nachman Ben-Yehuda, the authors explore the meanings behind moral panics, what contributing factors ignite the panics, who or what may be the cause of moral panics and so forth all while with providing interesting examples. They also propose five criterias that goes into defining moral panics which are; concern, hostility, consensus, dispositionality and volatility. Concern is regarding a measurable or manifested heightened level of

Michael Tonry in his book “Thinking About Crime” brings up the subject of moral panics (pg 86). A moral panic as defined by Stuart Hall is as follows

As mentioned earlier Stanley Cohen (1972) is one of prominent sociologists that devised the term ‘moral panic’. He defined the concept as ‘A sporadic episode which, as it occurs, subject’s society to bouts of moral panic, or in other terms, worries about the values and principles which society upholds which may be in jeopardy’ (Cohen, 1987; 9). The term ‘moral panic’ was introduced by Stanley Cohen (1972) in his book entitled ‘Folk Devils and Moral Panics’.

A moral panic is the public’s response to problems that seem threatening to the society. Moral panics are used by the media, however people are likely to panic out of proportion due the way it is upheld.

Chances are that in a given person’s lifetime, they have experienced a number of moral panics that have in some way affected society. The term moral panic encompasses a wide variety of events that can be applied to something as severe as a terrorist attack or to a mass media craze, such as the one over the death of Harambe, the gorilla from Cincinnati. In order for a certain social pattern to develop into what sociologists would call a moral panic, it must disrupt the operation of society. The historical American timeline has been greatly influenced by a number of moral panics that created cultural and structural changes in society. Sociologists started defining public debate using the social-conflict approach. The sociological paradigm concerning

A moral panic develops in a society when there is some type of threat looking to harm the society in some way. The threat of a nuclear attack by the USSR and its possible plan to control society through communism aided in the development of a moral panic during the Cold War era (Cold War History). American fears continued to grow as the relationship between the two countries became very tense (Hadley). During the Cold War era, the public

People interact with each other on a day to day basis, often times revealing more about who they are about a person and what they believe to be right and wrong. The author of “The Palace Thief”, Canin, strategically uses character interactions to evolve a central idea. Morals are a debatable subject because not everyone has a moral code and not everyone follows their moral code as closely as they think they do. The environment in which people grow up and live in for a long period of time affects how strictly they follow their morals, if some people grow up never following their morals, in the future they also aren’t going to follow their morals. Canin utilizes character interactions to support the overall central idea that whether or not we have a moral code, it is set early on in life.

Moral panics usually take place at the time of significant changes in society, when there is a great fear of loss of control. In these times "collective consciousness" needs to be reinforced so that society can locate new boundaries. Other examples of moral panics are over witchcrafts, satanic rituals, drugs, handguns, teenage pregnancy, TV violence, Internet and so on. According to Goode and Ben-Yehuda, moral panic has the following necessary indicators: 1. Concern - (different from fear) over the imagined threat (and those associated with

The ability of democracies to make decisions in line with the long term interests of its citizens is vulnerable to intense, short term shift in public opinion. There are few shifts more radical than those experienced by societies in the throes of moral panic – those times where a perceived social threat creates high levels of concern and anxiety in the population. Though much has been written about moral panics, there has not yet been a general discussion about its implications for the theory and

Every person has different views on what is morally right and wrong. These perspectives create rules in society that become acceptable due to recurring actions and attitudes. Throughout each generation, morals differ causing society to become more lenient or strict with each experience. People in society should be moral in order to benefit themselves, their family and their community. Without morals, living in society and the potential for society to develop is essentially impossible. Morals are the foundation for a person to grow and develop which may help set a standard for their family which in turn allows society to develop.

Discuss the notion of ‘moral panics’. Illustrate your discussions with examples of ‘folk devils,’ and incorporating concepts such as ‘the deviancy amplification spiral’ and the need for law and order.