1.5
Moral Panic
Moral panic is where more crime is caused by an excessive media representation of crime. It
is described as an irrational, exaggerated reaction by society to current crime. Moral panic
starts when the media identifies someone or a group as a threat to society, which results in
extreme over reporting, exaggerating the seriousness of the problem. The media and
politicians then release to the public that they are starting a crackdown by the authorities on
the threat, which then worsens the panic as it enlarges the scale of the problem. An example
of a moral panic happening is the Mods and Rockers in 1964. A conflict happened between
the two groups, which resulted in a few fights and some minor property damage. The media
then began reporting the situation, completely exaggerating it by accusing anyone who
looked like they were part of one of the groups were involved and calling for punishment for
all of them. This caused a moral panic as society began to think the Mods and Rockers
groups were larger than they actually were, distorting the real problem. The seriousness of
the problem was exaggerated by the media making it seem the problem was getting out of
hand, which increased the negative labelling of the Mods and Rockers.
Changing public concerns and attitudes
The publics attitudes towards certain groups can change due to positive or negative media
representation, like the Mods and Rockers. If media reporting is largely positive towards a
certain group, this could lead to the public having a positive view towards them. On the
other hand, if the media reporting is negative, it can lead to hate towards these groups. This
can lead to a moral panic, as society believes these certain groups are a threat due to
strongly negative media representation. An example of this happening is the media
reporting of Islam and Muslims. Baker et al found out that 59% of all articles associated
Muslims with negative behaviour. This mainly negative media reporting of Muslims
contributed to a change in societies attitude towards Muslims. Also, this may have led to the
rise of hate crimes on Muslims and islamophobia.
Perceptions of crime trends
Due to media representation of crime increasing, it can give the impression to the public
that crime rates are also increasing. This is often not the case and raises alarms about a
growing crime problem, panicking the public about crimes which are given lots of media
attention. This can also lead to the public fearing they will become a victim of crime, like
parents now allowing their children to go out because of a kidnapping that happened
recently. Some people will have more accurate perceptions of crime, if their fear of crime is
based on their own experiences. An example of perceptions of crime trends is Schlesinger
and Tumber who discovered that those who watch TV frequently are more afraid of
becoming victims of a crime, as they are constantly watching media representation of crime.
Moral Panic
Moral panic is where more crime is caused by an excessive media representation of crime. It
is described as an irrational, exaggerated reaction by society to current crime. Moral panic
starts when the media identifies someone or a group as a threat to society, which results in
extreme over reporting, exaggerating the seriousness of the problem. The media and
politicians then release to the public that they are starting a crackdown by the authorities on
the threat, which then worsens the panic as it enlarges the scale of the problem. An example
of a moral panic happening is the Mods and Rockers in 1964. A conflict happened between
the two groups, which resulted in a few fights and some minor property damage. The media
then began reporting the situation, completely exaggerating it by accusing anyone who
looked like they were part of one of the groups were involved and calling for punishment for
all of them. This caused a moral panic as society began to think the Mods and Rockers
groups were larger than they actually were, distorting the real problem. The seriousness of
the problem was exaggerated by the media making it seem the problem was getting out of
hand, which increased the negative labelling of the Mods and Rockers.
Changing public concerns and attitudes
The publics attitudes towards certain groups can change due to positive or negative media
representation, like the Mods and Rockers. If media reporting is largely positive towards a
certain group, this could lead to the public having a positive view towards them. On the
other hand, if the media reporting is negative, it can lead to hate towards these groups. This
can lead to a moral panic, as society believes these certain groups are a threat due to
strongly negative media representation. An example of this happening is the media
reporting of Islam and Muslims. Baker et al found out that 59% of all articles associated
Muslims with negative behaviour. This mainly negative media reporting of Muslims
contributed to a change in societies attitude towards Muslims. Also, this may have led to the
rise of hate crimes on Muslims and islamophobia.
Perceptions of crime trends
Due to media representation of crime increasing, it can give the impression to the public
that crime rates are also increasing. This is often not the case and raises alarms about a
growing crime problem, panicking the public about crimes which are given lots of media
attention. This can also lead to the public fearing they will become a victim of crime, like
parents now allowing their children to go out because of a kidnapping that happened
recently. Some people will have more accurate perceptions of crime, if their fear of crime is
based on their own experiences. An example of perceptions of crime trends is Schlesinger
and Tumber who discovered that those who watch TV frequently are more afraid of
becoming victims of a crime, as they are constantly watching media representation of crime.
