moral panic
the consequence of how the media presents an event which will make the public panic
the media distorts an event to make the public more afraid e.g. killer clowns at halloween in
2017
does moral panic have a positive or negative impact on public perception of crime?
positive + negative
- makes people more aware and cautious so will put precautions in place e.g. CCTV or
neighborhood watch
- it makes people panicked and anxiety rises which means mental health issues increase
Brainpower
Read More
example of moral panic
Mods and Rockers
- took place in margate, brighton, clacton and bournemouth (southern towns)
- were two separate groups which got into conflict as mods got bored so went to another
town and started fighting the Rockers
- media over-reported the incident and exaggerating the harm on general pubic - produced
wide-spread panic and called for tougher policing
changing public concerns and attitudes
where the majority of the general public tend to have the same attitudes + concerns about
particular crimes
- what public is most concerned about is what is reported the most e.g. knife crime, terrorism,
murder
does changing public concerns and attitudes have a positive or negative impact on the public
perception of crime?
positive