Moral panics are mainly cause by mass media which amplify and exaggerate the actual scale of some deviant groups or individual, and will develop the construction of moral panics. The word “folk devil” was first use in 1972 by Staleny Cohen. Folk devil means the individual or groups that targeted by moral panics because they are deviant in the society. These deviant people are representing the evil to the media and they could threat the social order. For example, this could be single mother, youth, asylum seekers, etc.
The harassment and mistreatment of thousands of Americans under the policy of McCarthysism, is for Miller, a Salem witch- hunt. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is set in the Puritan society of the 17th century Salem and is one with rules and regulations that are enforced; if an individual goes against them they will be punished. ‘The Crucible’ is a clear example of the social implications of belonging in the 1950’s era. In the poem “An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow”, the weeping man is an individual contrasting against the traditional held views of society. People are obsessed with fitting in the social mainstream that they become afraid of change and are challenged by genuine emotion.
The construction of social problems, by people or activist, have given rise to a false or exaggerated belief that cultural behavior or cultural groups give way to dangerously stereotyping that poses a threat to normal society. This “moral panic” is directly related to many contemporary issues such as terrorism, politics, and most importantly crime. Over the years “moral panic” has been perceived as threat to societies values or norms. In order for “moral panic” to thrive, it is first created by framers, sociologist or activists who use “moral panic” as means to justify there issues through a presumption of exaggeration and manipulation of statistics. This paper along with three articles, The Social Construction of Serial Homicide, Moral
The media influences these groups through many ways, such as imitation by creating a deviant role model encouraging “copycat” behaviour. Another way that the media influences crime and deviance is through arousal from watching violent or sexual imagery. Moral Panics are created by the media through labelling. The labels that the media places on groups influence the public creating a moral panic due to the over exaggerated reaction by society
The social action approach, argues that individuals experience the social world by interpreting their actions and interactions with others and the meaning they assign to social phenomena. The starting point for understanding society should be the individual as they are authors of their own ideas. Emphasis should be given to how shared meanings develop and how these influence the way individuals define, act and react to their environment. Opposing the social action approach are the structural theories. Structural theories such as functionalism and Marxism are macro (large scale), and deterministic: they see society as a real thing existing over and above us, shaping our ideas and behaviour – individuals are like puppets, manipulated by society.
Article Analysis Moral Panics: Culture, Politics, and Social Construction Introduction: One might heard about threats, warnings and illegal actions that are influencing the society at their peak. No matter which culture an individual is belonged to, the thing that matters is the panic he has been influenced by, through various ways. Such panic is simply termed as moral panic and it has been the cause of cultural conflicts, social disturbances and political issues. Moral panic has been a hot topic of discussion that considered through several different perspectives; emphasizing on this aspect, various scholars and researchers have illustrated the society with the instances of social, culture and political problems and more specifically the moral panics. Cohen (1972) defined moral panic as societal threat whereas Furedi (1994) described moral panics as a threat to happiness and health.
In Villains of All Nations, Marcus Rediker argues that piracy in the Atlantic rose in direct response to the fundamental issues of the period – roughly, 1710s to 1720s. Specifically, those issues are, as Rediker contends, concerns of class, questions of race, gender issues, and political rhetoric. In the chapters of Villains, the over-arching themes of work, class, and power are used to tie together the government and religious authorities of the Atlantic with the pirates who plundered against their legitimacy. In chapter one, he argues that pirates were bold political “terrorists” who challenged eighteenth-century social order by creating a more egalitarian seafaring lifestyle. Rediker contends that on both sides of the piracy issue – religious/political figures and pirates – was a world of terror.
Each social control has distinct differences. One difference being that ideological social control is used in order to manipulate the way we perceive things while direct social control punishes those who violate norms. In chapter six of In Conflict and Order, the authors, Eitzen and Zinn state that media shapes how we evaluate ourselves and other people. Moreover, they state that media is used to affect the viewers or readers directly into perceiving and interpreting events. Furthermore, media has an enormous amount of power to influence or question the system (pg.
McCarthyism in the 1950’s was the practice of broadcasting allegations of political treachery or rebellion with inadequate regard to evidence. The events that took place in the 1950’s concerning McCarthyism are what inspired Miller to write his play on the Salem witch trials of 1692. The fear of repeating the horrors of the past pushed him to try and open the eyes of those who seemed to be following a dangerous path. The Crucible and McCarthyism both contain instances of false accusation, wrongly gained power, and mass hysteria. Similarly to the Salem witch trials, McCarthyism started in a time of great fear, but instead of fearing witches that made pacts with the Devil, the people of the 1950’s feared communism.
Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess sociological explanations of the role of the mass media in creating moral panics about crime and deviance. (21) A moral panic is an outrage that is stirred up by the media about a particular group or issue. The role of the mass media is to communicate to a large audience, whether it be written or spoken, though the radio, television, newspapers or the internet; as item A states the news media are one of our main sources of knowledge about crime and deviance. Often the media will create a moral panic surrounding crimes and criminals or deviants. Cohen’s explanation of folk devils and moral panics is highly relevant to understand the role of the mass media in creating moral panics about crime