1. Moral-panic – exaggerated overreaction by society to a perceived
problem
CyberIn moral panic:
The media identify a group as folk devil
pornography:
or threat to societal values
including
The media present the group in a
Cyber-violence:
minors +
negative, stereotypical fashion and
psychological harm, cyber
opportunities
exaggerate the scale of the problem
stalking, threatening
for children to
Moral entrepreneurs, editors, politicians,
emails
access it
police chiefs + other ‘respectable’
people condemn the group + its
behaviour
Wall – four categories of
cyber-crime...
Cyber deception + theft:
identity theft, software
piracy, illegal
downloading.
Swash:95% of music online
now illegally downloaded
Cyber-trespass:
hacking,
sabotage,
spreading
viruses
Global Cyber-Crime
Internet caused moral panic due to speed with
which it has developed + its scale: fear of cyber
crime
Thomas + Loader: computer mediated
activities are either illegal or considered illicit
by some
Jewkes: internet creates opportunities to
commit fraud + software piracy
Criticism of idea of moral panics:
Assumes societal reaction is over-reaction but
who is to say what is proportionate reaction?
Why are the media able to amplify some
problems into panic and not others?
McRobbie and Thornton: moral panics are
routine and have less impact due to today’s
‘shock, horror’ stories
Prediction: media regularly
assumed and predicted further
conflict + violence would result
Exaggeration and
distortion: media
exaggerated no.
involved + extent of
damage + violence
Moral Panics
The wider context
Cohen puts example of mods and
rockers into wider context of post-war
British society
Moral panics often occur at times of
social change
The folk devil created by media
symbolises and gives a focus to popular
anxiety about social disorder
Functionalist perspective – moral panic
way of responding to sense of anomie
Hall et all – neo-Marxist approach. Moral
panic over mugging in Britain in 70s
served to distract from crisis of capitalism
Symbolisation:
symbols of mods +
rockers i.e. dress, hair,
music etc, negatively
labelled _ associated
with deviance
Cohen: Mods and rockers
Mods wore smart dress + rode
scooters
Rockers wore leather jackets + rode
motorbikes
Both groups made up of largely
working class teenagers
Media portrayal of events led to
amplification spiral, seeming as if
problem was spreading
The more the media defined the
two groups + their subcultural
styles, the more youths started to
adopt these styles
Media transformed two loose-knit
groups into two tight-knit gangs
Encouraged polarisation
Mods and rockers = folk devils