Cohen's Moral Panic

Moral Panic is a theory developed by Stanley Cohen, which states that it is when a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests. It is presented in a stylised and stereotypical fashion by the mass media. Moral Panics involve the construction of "folk devils" that need controlling, which leads to increased social control.

Features of a Moral Panic include:

• Concern: behaviour of a particular group represented as a threat
• Volatility: panics erupt dramatically but are difficult to sustain
• Hostility: "folk devils" constructed to create a clear division between "them" and "us"
• Consensus: widespread acceptance of the threat
• Disproportionality: extreme exaggeration of evidence for both the number of people involved and the scale of the problem