Moral Panic Theory - Essay Example

Moral panic Theory Name Tutor Institution Date Introduction Moral panic was created by Stanley Cohen. This concept is an expression of an intense feeling in a population about an issue that appears to endanger their social order (McRobbie, 1995). Moral panics cause controversies that contain social tension and arguments whose disagreement are troublesome because the issue they deal with is tabooed. Moral panic emerges when some persons or a group goes against the interests that a given community upholds with utmost value. This concept revolves majorly around the youths and their culture. Youths are perceived as a group that often threatens the society by opposing its social interests and values. If the society is negatively proked by the actions of such groups or individuals, it may lead to unjustified reactions. Even when they are not consciously involved in muckraking or campaigning, media have always operated as agents of moral indignation (Cohen, 2004). Reporting of facts can be sufficient to create anxiety, concern or panic. Moral panic is composed of various characteristics including: concern- the wakefulness that a behavior of a certain group is likely to cause a dangerous impact to the society; hostility - an increase of hostility and isolation of the group; consensus - an increased acceptance that the group is a threat to the society; non-proportionality - the discipline given to the group is unrelated to actual threat they cause to the society; and volatility - moral panics are very much volatile and they disappear as fast as they emerged because of the decrease of interest from the public or change of topic (Cohen, 2004). This essay is going to focus on how the concept of ‘moral panic’ has been criticized for its perceived limitations, yet it is not going away. Criticism of the concept of moral panic theory The ideology of Cohen has been heavily criticized because of its identified limitations. Despite that, the concept is highlighting realities that affect the public. The moral panic concept has failed to go away because of the truth that it holds for some important issues. Cohen describes some of the criticism that has come up in the response to moral panic concept. First, the term ‘panic’ itself has connotations of irrationality and has no control. Further, Cohen argues that ‘Panic’ is an appropriate term when applied as an extended metaphor (Becker, 1963). Second, the theory of ‘Moral panic’ lacks proportionality because the accused person or group is punished more or less than the threat it has created to the society (Schlesinger, 1979). Therefore, the challenge with this argument is that there is lack of an appropriate method to determine the kind of proportionate reaction that should be awarded to a given action. Third, Jewkes argues that the term ‘morality’ is incorrectly used in the concept of ‘moral panic’ and that most research has failed to approach this term with a lot of significance; instead such research accepts it at face value (Gerald,2008). Adding to that, jawkes argues that the way the term ‘moral’ has been used does not differentiate between crimes that truly affront human morality, hence draws out a reasonable reaction, and those that demonize the marginalized. Therefore, the society is not adequately naive to continue accepting the latter, enabling themselves to be controlled by the government and media. In terms of structure and debate, weaknesses can be identified in Cohen’s theory. The picture that Cohen presents about moral panic s and deviance amplification appears to be very structural even if he takes an 'interactionist' approach. This indicates that in practice, the explanation of Cohen propose s that the Rockers and Mods lack freedom in their actions; they are demonstrated as victims of no power in the face of public outrage and media distortion. In addition to that, the assumptions of Cohen about public reaction demonstrate public bias. It seems that Cohen assumes that the public will indeed react in a given manner, and that this reaction is directly caused by reporting of the media; it appears to be involuntary response (Gerald, 2008). This shows that there is no free will for the public to respond to reporting of the media and a moral ‘panic’ in any manner. Therefore, different parts of public might respond to media coverage in various ways. The Current Relevance of Moral Panic Theory Moral panic theory is based on interactionist perspective. This is evident by the way Cohen demonstrates how criminal actions are branded and particular groups are dishornoured. Therefore, through reactions of police, media, and public, deviance is shown to be socially constructed (Cohen, 2004). This concept of moral panic is important because it creates an understanding of Youth and crime in the media because, in most cases, moral panics are channeled to the youth. For instance, in 1950s and 1960s, different images and styles which were related with “ideal teenager” rapidly became related with deviant values (Jawkes, 2011). This makes the basis for case study of Rockers and Mods for Cohen. In addition to that, as a clarification that supports the fame of the youth as a target of media -driven moral panics, Jawkes suggests that the young people represent the future and that anxiety and fear about the rejection of traditional values portrays an image that is terrifying to think(Jawkes, 2011). According to the thesis by Cohen (conception of folk devils), an individual or a group and its values are described as threats or deviant through hyperbole and embellishment of media. The creation of ‘other’ is the outcome of labeling or portrayal as a folk devil, where hysteria is provoked by apprehension of the concept of ‘othernesses' (Cohen, 2004). Otherness opposes the identified social norms and is a crucial aspect in the production of a panic. Astonishingly, the folk devil, in most cases, is a group or a youth, a famous individual to be portrayed as an outcast and a threat by the media. Existing application of moral panic theory Moral panic theory has existed since 1972 and it has created a great change in thinking of social scientists concerning social phenomena. This concept is relevant to the current media and it explains the understanding of youth, media and crime. For instance, the achievement of this concept is shown by its current and frequent use outside the scope of social science and within the area of politics, media, and commerce (Cohen, 2004).The following examples demonstrates contemporary applications of the moral panic theory. Ethnicity The common method of creating folk devils and outsiders is through racial labeling. Otherness is provoked by reference to ethnicity and it is an approach used by mass media (Oakes, 2012). For instance, the article “African youth crime concern” plainly labels young people of Africa as a threat to social norms with regard to crime. This article affirms that Somalia and Sudanese- born youths have high possibility to committing crimes. This creates pigeonhole of deviant, ethnic youth compared to other communities. Though this article attempts to create awareness of African overrepresentation in crime, it also labels African young people as deviant. As a result, ethnicity underpins a mentality of ‘us’ and ‘them’ (Oakes, 2012). Politics Moral panic is also portrayed in political sphere, both in the past and current situations. It is argued that authorities established social conditions to fit their cause, and as a result, moral panic became an ‘ambassador’ for central ideology. Further, another dimension portrayed moral panics as an opportunity for politicians to realize anxiety (Hall, C. 1978). The current politics also shows moral panic theory in application. In some cases, politicians provoke moral panic, for instance, the ‘boat people’ that was created by Howard government in 2002. The conversation of the government ended up in some parts of the Australian community becoming unhappy with acknowledging asylum seekers because they were Muslims, or different in terms of culture (Poynting &Morgan, 2007). Another example is shown where politicians take an opportunity of moral panic to express their needs to a strong government (Hall, 1978). These politicians put a lot of pressure on the strong government in order to have something done. One method of having this achieved is by using rhetoric of “tough on crime” like the one used in by the government of Baillieu. The reaction of the government to the campaigns of tabloid crime-fear is like violent bidding in an auction of “law and order” (Hall, 1978). The theory of moral panic has become inherently associated with politics, regardless of the motivation behind it. New Media The new trend of social media also uses the Cohen theory in underlining the significance of moral panics in the current technology. During the Arab Spring, social media like twitter, blogs, and Facebook played a role. The wave of revolutions across the Middle East demonstrated some ingredients of moral panic theory (Huang, C. 2011). Cyberractivism in Egypt which was a fundamental substitute for the suppressed media and harsh national leaders, such as Mubarak of Egypt and Ben Aliand of Tunisia, were seen as folk devils. Protesters employed social media to spread awareness in a manner similar to the traditional methods of producing panic (Haddadi, 2011). The police’s brutal and violent actions were posted online in form of videos and images, which produced a public mentality calling for action to be taken. The rate of spread of information on social media also showed possible outcomes of stimulating panic. In this case, the usual protests were changed to social revolution. The activities of Arab Spring portrays the power of new media to trigger and change the usual into unusual and create folk devils (Haddadi, 2011). The theory of moral panic is still applicable today even if Cohen would not be expected to foretell the future advancement in digital and technology in the new media. Cronulla The Cronulla riots of 2005 are a good example of the ability of media to stimulate panic surrounding young people. The media began to stirrup panic following a fight between groups of men at a beach in Sydney (Poynting, 2007). The Daily Telegram asked for a step to be taken against Middle East youth hooligans, and the talk-back radio inflated the amount of brutality. These outlets’ reporting is seen to create simplified folk devil known as ‘ethnic other’. The significant element of moral panic theory is portrayed where the mass media accelerated the cycle of defiance. Description of media goes beyond mass media( Poynting, 2006).The problem of rousing moral panics has gone high with technological advancement, which enables distant and fast communication. For instance, for the case of Cronulla, SMS messaging quickened the distribution process of exaggeration (Poynting, 2006). Conclusion The theory of Moral panic, by Cohen, has lived for more than four decades and it has been used to explain the link between crime and youth. This theory is demonstrated by the media and significant concepts of changing usual into unusual and creation of folk devils are seen in the current media reporting. On top of that, youths are the main subject of moral panics. The occurrences that were shown by Cronulla persuade moral panics and possible impacts and outcomes that can happen. This concept is inherently associated with current political and governmental conversation. Even if this concept experiences criticism and may require some changes to fit its application in unpredictable variations in technology and media, it is still important in the current world. References Becker,H. 1963. Outsiders: Studies in sociology of Deviance. New York: Free Press Cohen, A. 2004. Folk Devils and Moral panics, 3rd ed. London: Routledge. Gerald,D. 2008. On the concept of moral panic. Crime media culture, 4(1): 9-30 Haddadi, A. 2011. Did Social networks like Facebook and Twitter Really influence the Arab Spring? International business Times, 30 June 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2014. < http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/did-social-networks-like-facebook-and-twitter-really-influence-the-arab-spring-172268 > Hall, C. 1978. Policing the crisis: mugging, the state, and Law and order. London: Palgrave Huang, C. 2011. Facebook and Twitter key to Arab springs. The National UAE. Retrieved 21 September 2014. Jawkes,Y. 2011. Media and crime, 2nd ed. London: Sage Publications. McRobbie, A. & Thornton. 1995. Rethinking moral panics for Multi- mediated social worlds. British journal of sociology, 46(4): 559-574. Oakes, D. 2012. African Youth Crime Concern. The Age Victoria, 20th August 2012. Retrieved 19th September 2014 Poynting, S. & Morgan, G ( eds). 2007. Outrageous ? Moral panics in Australia, ACYS, Hobart. Poynting, S. 2006. What caused the Cronulla riot? Race & class, vol. 48(1): 20-30. Poynting, S. 2007. Thugs and grubs at Cronulla: From media beat-ups to beating up migrants in Outrageous moral panics in Australia, Hobart: ACYS. Schlesinger, P. 1979. Book Review: polising the crisis: Mugging, state, and order. Sociology, 13(2): 323-325. Read More