Essay
Stanley Cohen's theory of Moral Panic
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Here is my Criminology essay for the unit of Moral Panic. I was graded with a 1st. I hope this helps :) feel free to message me if you need any help.
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Is Stanley Cohen’s work on Moral Panic still relevant today?SOCI1099
Understanding Deviance
This essay will discuss whether Stanley Cohen’s moral panic theory is still relevant today. In
addition, outlined will be the five stages of moral panic as well as moral panic being applied
, to the past and present. Moral panic was developed during the 1960s when Stanley Cohen
associated himself with the two working-class subculture groups present in the 1960s: the
Mods and Rockers. The Mods were known for riding scooters and dressing in fashionable
clothing, whereas the Rockers were conflicting in their image, dressing in leathers and riding
larger motorbikes. The two subculture groups clashed and became hostile towards each
other, leading to multiple fights breaking out in both Clacton and Brighton. This led to news
outlets reporting on the Mods and the Rockers confrontation, which encouraged the public
to believe society was at risk of being forced into their rivalry. For that reason, an outbreak
of moral panic began (Savage, 2014). Moral panic can be interpreted as a “condition, epis-
ode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values
and interests” (Cohen, 1972). Suggesting that a person or a group of people are viewed as
dangerous in the eye of the public, within Stanley Cohen’s book Folk Devils and Moral Panic:
The Creation of The Mods and Rockers, the primary example of Moral Panic is the Mods and
Rockers, a subculture group present in 1964 both of whom were viewed as savage and un-
ruly. Moral panic is perpetuated by the media permitting them to gain viewership through
news channels reporting on the threat, leading to deviant amplification, meaning said viol-
ent group becomes more deviant as a result of being labelled as such. This, in turn, benefits
those in charge, such as local government, police, and lawmakers, as fostered social control
means organisational manipulation can take place.
The theory of moral panic entails five key stages. Stage one includes someone being per-
ceived as a threat to social norms usually acting in a deviant manner. Deviances are actions
or behaviours that violate formal and informal cultural norms, such as laws or socially con-
structed norms. A socially constructed norm can include not swearing in public as it is seen
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