Moral Panics and the Media

The term 'moral panic' is frequently applied to sudden eruptions of concern about social problems. This book critically evaluates the usefulness of moral panic models for understanding how politicians, the public and pressure groups come to recognize apparently new threats to the social order. It scrutinizes the role of the media, especially the popular press.

Chas Critcher is Professor of Communications at Sheffield Hallam University.

Series Editor's Foreword

ix

List of Tables and Figure

xi

Acknowledgements

xii

Introduction: Original Thoughts

1

(1)

The project

1

(2)

The structure

3

(1)

The objective

4

(1)

Further reading

5

(2)

PART I THE MODELS

7

(24)

Made in Britain: The Processual Model of Moral Panics

9

(11)

Introduction

9

(1)

Cohen: Folk Devils and Moral Panics

10

(4)

Hall et al.: Policing the Crisis

14

(2)

Eliciting a model

16

(3)

Further reading

19

(1)

Notes from a Big Country: the Attributional Model of Moral Panics

20

(11)

Introduction

20

(2)

Claims making and the mass media

22

(1)

Goode and Ben-Yehuda: Moral Panics

23

(3)

Jenkins: Intimate Enemies

26

(1)

Two models, one project

27

(3)

Further reading

30

(1)

PART II THE CASE STUDIES

31

(88)

Unhealthy Preoccupations: Aids

33

(15)

Introduction

33

(1)

The AIDS narrative

33

(5)

Applying the models

38

(3)

Beyond moral panics

41

(1)

International comparisons

42

(4)

Overview

46

(1)

Further reading

46

(2)

Out of Their Minds: Ecstasy and Raves

48

(16)

Introduction

48

(1)

The rave/ecstasy narrative

48

(5)

Applying the models

53

(5)

Beyond moral panics

58

(2)

International comparisons

60

(3)

Overview

63

(1)

Further reading

63

(1)

A Rocky Horror Show: Video Nasties

64

(17)

Introduction

64

(1)

The first video nasties narrative, 1982--84

64

(3)

The second video nasties narrative, 1993--94

67

(3)

Applying the models

70

(4)

Beyond moral panics

74

(3)

International comparisons

77

(2)

Overview

79

(1)

Further reading

80

(1)

Suffer the Little Children: Child Abuse in Families

81

(18)

Introduction

81

(1)

The physical abuse narrative

81

(2)

Physical abuse as moral panic

83

(1)

The sexual abuse narrative: Cleveland

84

(3)

Cleveland as moral panic

87

(2)

The ritual abuse narrative

89

(1)

Ritual abuse as moral panic

90

(2)

Beyond moral panics

92

(3)

International comparisons

95

(3)

Overview

98

(1)

Further reading

98

(1)

Monstrous Ideas: Paedophilia

99

(20)

Introduction

99

(1)

The paedophilia narrative

100

(9)

Applying the models

109

(3)

Beyond moral panics

112

(3)

International comparisons

115

(1)

Overview

116

(1)

Further reading

117

(2)

PART III THE IMPLICATIONS

119

(57)

Universal Pictures: International Comparisons

121

(10)

Introduction

121

(1)

Political, economic and social change

122

(2)

Key institutions

124

(2)

Specificity of issues

126

(1)

Diffusion

127

(2)

Moral panics and modernity

129

(1)

Further reading

130

(1)

No News Is Good News: The Role of the Media

131

(12)

Introduction

131

(1)

News values and inferential structures

132

(2)

Primary definers and claims makers

134

(2)

Agenda setting and public opinion

136

(3)

News attention cycle and narrative closure

139

(2)

The Daily Mail

141

(1)

Further reading

142

(1)

Time for a Make-Over: The Models Revisited

143

(12)

Introduction

143

(1)

Terminology

144

(1)

Dynamics

144

(1)

Determinism

145

(2)

Social anxiety

147

(1)

Change

148

(1)

Critical overview

149

(1)

Towards a synthesis

149

(5)

Further reading

154

(1)

Myth Appropriation: the Childhood Theme

155

(9)

Introduction

155

(1)

Childhood and moral panics

156

(1)

Childhood as social construction

156

(2)

Childhood as symbol

158

(1)

Childhood and change

159

(1)

The politics of childhood

160

(3)

Further reading

163

(1)

Underwriting Risk: Moral Panics and Social Theory

164

(12)

Introduction

164

(1)

Risk

165

(2)

Discourse

167

(5)

Moral panics and risk discourses

172

(3)

Further reading

175

(1)

Afterword

176

(3)

Glossary

179

(4)

References

183

(16)

Index

199

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Moral Panics and the Media

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials