Moral Panic

From the Witch Hunts of the Renaissance to the Pokémon Panics of the early 21st century, the media has long been a central part of the sociological phenomenon known as 'Moral Panic'. It is important to understand this in general terms when dealing with Violence & the Media, as so much of the media coverage of violence takes the form of a clearly defined moral panic, although the panics do not so often lead to legislation. What they do lead to is increased sales.

According to Key Concepts in Communication (O'Sullivan, Fiske et al 1983)

"Moral panics then, are those processes whereby members of a society and culture become 'morally sensitized' to the challenges and menaces posed to 'their' accepted values and ways of life, by the activities of groups defined as deviant. The process underscores the importance of the mass media in providing, maintaining and 'policing' the available frameworks and definitions of deviance, which structure both public awareness of, and attitudes towards, social problems."

Those deviant groups were labelled by Stanley Cohen in 1971/2 as folk devils. Moral Panics in the media can formally be broken down into 3 stages

A classic, recent example of moral panic in the UK was the Sarah Payne case, which led to changes in the existing Sex Offenders Register (wider access, a shorter time for offenders to register). Read The Guardian Unlimited's roundup of the case here.

Two films which caused moral panics in the 1990s are Natural Born Killers(1994) and The Basketball Diaries (1995). Although these films are very very different in terms of both style and content they and their producers have been specifically named in lawsuits brought by the relatives of murder victims. In both cases the plaintiffs allege that the movies were guilty of "incitement to kill" and that their creators should be held responsible for the actions of individuals who were allegedly influenced by what they had seen. This is very dodgy legal ground (known as "shock tort") but, with more and more cases like these being brought, it is only a matter of time before someone makes one stick.

• Natural Born Killers
• The Basketball Diaries

For more discussion of Moral Panics check

• Moral Panics & Child Abuse - book review
• Child's Play 3 - the moral panic surrounding this film & the James Bulger case
• The American Drug Panic of the 1980s - an interesting overview, particularly the section on Crack Babies
• A Century of Sex Panics
• Moral Panic Victorian Style - an indepth look at White Slavery (fascinating background reading, particularly as it demonstrates plus ça change...)
• Violent Disorder - Socialist Review