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Moral panic can be defined as the byproducts of controversies that have created arguments and social tension and unrest. A moral panic refers to when a community has an overreaction to a new media form and they associate it with deviant sub cultural groups who are supposedly disturbing the social order. A number of sociologists have developed their own definitions and theories about moral panics. In this essay I will provide an analysis of some of their views and research. Cohen (1973) defines a moral panic as “the intensity of a feeling expressed by a large number of people about a specific group of people who appear to threaten the [|social order] at any given time”. Gagne (2001) defines that a moral panic is usually “expressed as expressions of outrage rather than unadulterated fear and framed in terms of a dominant morality threatened by the activities of a stereotyped group. Gagne goes on to say that a “moral panic is a panic over what is seen as deviant behaviour. The subject of the panic is usually not a suddenly new phenomenon, but something which has been in existence for many years, and suddenly comes to society's and the media's attention.” Scott refers to more recent “moral panic as having since been applied in the analysis of the societal reaction to many other social problems, including football hooliganism, child abuse, AIDS, and numerous adolescent subcultural activities”. (Scott, J. & Marshall, G, 2005) Many sociologists have noted the differences between the definitions of American and British sociologists when it comes to moral panic. [|Kenneth Thompson] has said that American sociologists tend to emphasize psychological factors whereas the British portray //moral panics// as crises of capitalism. Finally it is important to note the media plays a big part in creating moral panics, they have for a long time been the agents of moral indignation. Just by reporting what is happening and stating the facts this can be enough to generate a concern, anxiety or panic within society. Journalist Margaret Talbot suggests that the key features of contemporary moral panic over sex offences for instance include the enormous inflation of statistics. Cohen (2007) further believes that moral panic occurs when “a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests”. People will start a panic when they feel a fear or threat to prevailing cultural or social values, this is known as moral entrepreneurs by researchers. Folk devils are groups targeted by a moral panic, fictional or not. They are groups labeled by the media as evil or deviant and a threat to the moral well being of society or to ‘social order’. Social order being a concept which refers to the normal ways we as society should behave. Along with many other sociologists, Cohen believes that moral panics have several distinct features about them, which he explains in his Deviancy Amplification spiral. Firstly there needs to be a concern, for example there is awareness that the behaviour of the group in question is likely to have a negative impact on society. Then comes the hostility stage where hostility increases towards the group in question. The next stage occurs when there becomes a division and the group is seen as folk devils. The consensus stage follows and although concern doesn’t need to be nationwide, if there is a widespread acceptance that the group in question poses a very real threat to the norms of society, a consensus exists. It is important at this stage that the moral entrepreneurs who are mainly the mass media are very vocal and the folk devils appear weak and disorganized. Disproportionality stage then occurs when the action taken is of a disproportionate nature to the actual threat posed by the accused group. Finally, there is the volatility stage which is when moral panics are highly volatile and tend to disappear as quickly as they appeared. This is mainly due to a decrease in public interest or the moral entrepreneurs reports changing to another topic. In //Folk Devils and Moral Panics,// Cohen outlines some of the criticisms that have arisen in response to the moral panic theory. One of these is the term "panic" itself, as it has connotations of absurdity and a lack of control or power. Cohen maintains however that "panic" is a suitable term when used as an extended metaphor. Another criticism is that of the disproportionality that has come about. The problem with this argument is that there is no way to measure what a proportionate reaction should be to a specific action. Others sociologists have criticized Cohen's work stating that not all the //folk devils// expressed in his work are vulnerable or unfairly maligned. 
 * 2. ASSIGNMENT TWO: INDIVIDUAL ESSAY **
 * 6. What do sociologists mean by 'moral panics'? Give examples. **
 * What is a moral panic? **

Cohen states that “A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests; its nature is presented in a stylized and stereopical fashion by the mass media; the moral barricades are manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right- thinking people; socially accredited experts pronounce their diagnoses and solutions; ways of coping are evoled or more often resorted to ; the condition then disappears, submerges or deteriorates and becomes more visable.” (Cohen,1980 -9) In //Moral Panics Over Youth Culture and Video Games Gagne (2001) writes// that a moral panic is usually “expressed as expressions of outrage rather than unadulterated fear and framed in terms of a dominant morality threatened by the activities of a stereotyped group (children, migrants, schismatics)”. Gagne goes on to say that “one consequence that can occur is that the consumption of commodities such as comics and video games may be reified, with attention. Gagne goes on to say that “Eventually the stereotype fades of its own volition, to be replaced in a few years by another moral panic, perhaps when the original entertainment form and the response to it change, creating a panic that is a variation on the original”. The mass media which sociologist refer to as moral entrepreneurs are seen to amplify and exaggerate episodes of phenomena way out of proportion from their actual scale and significance; thereby contributing to the construction of a moral panic. Historically, the major concern over the impact of popular culture has evolved periodically with the advent of each new mass medium. For example starting with silent cinema and talkies; dime novels and comics; and through to television and video. This fear of popular music has been going on for a long time for example jazz in the 1920’s; rock and roll in the 1950’s: mods and rockers in the 1960’s: punk in the 1970’s: heavy metal in the 1980’s: British rave culture in the 1990’s: and hip hop and rap. In 1954, New Zealand had its own experience of moral panic when there was a Ministerial inquiry which was to be undertaken on the moral delinquency in youth. The Inquiry resulted in the //Report of the Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children and Adolescents//. This study was mainly triggered by the Parker-Hulme murder and the Petone incident, where a girl reported on a 'Milk Bar Gang' who met 'mostly for sex purposes' (MediaScape) There are some classic examples of moral panic and how they are embedded and taken their place in our society. For instance, moral panic is now a term used to describe the fears of society towards pop culture. These fears are often intensified by exaggerated mass media exposure of pop culture. The Elements of popular culture are commonly blamed for provoking undesirable behaviour in the youth. Take for an example [|Elvis Presley's] gyrating hips which supplemented with rock and roll music in the 50s which were linked to sex and promiscuity. Now Elvis’s fans are in there 60’s plus and are grandparents. A more recent example of a folk devil is [|Marilyn Manson] and his music which has been blamed for supposedly inspiring the Columbine High school killers to do their deeds. Further examples of folk devils have included 1920’s soviet Russia, homosexuality, McCarthy’s alleged Communists, Goths, pedophiles, racial groups, gangs, drugs, people from certain countries who have different beliefs like Arabic nations, football hooligans, youth subcultures, music genres and terrorism this are just a few of the supposed folk devils in our society.

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 [|Stanley Cohen], [|//Folk Devils and Moral Panics//] (1973), Cohen, S. (1973). //Folk Devils and Moral Panics.// St Albans: Paladin, p.9 Shuker, R. (1994) Understanding Popular Music Culture p. 226 – 229 – Routledge Shuker, R. (2001) //Understanding Popular Music//, London, Routledge Kenneth Gagne's 2001 dissertation //Moral Panics Over Youth Culture and Video Games// [] 
 * References: **
 * Mediascape retrieved on April, 24 2009 from **[|**http://www.mediascape.ac.nz/cms/index.php?page=popular-culture**]
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Scott, J. & Marshall, G., (2005) Oxford Dictionary of Sociology, Oxford, University Press **