Moral Panics: The Social Construction of Deviance - Essay Example

Name: Institution: Date: Instructor: Introduction Moral Panic is an expression within the public that could disrupt the social environment. It inflicts a feeling that is unusual to the society with regard to the social standards and the social interests of the society. It is often brought about by reports from the media that are exaggerated, distorted and tend to build up tension and public alarm due to their nature which makes them subjects of discussions and debate. It has been often used by politicians to divert the attention of the society from certain issues that are not in their favour. This essay details the causes of moral panic and how it occurs with examples of instances where moral panic has been created. The media therefore is capable of developing and changing perception of the society towards a particular group. This is because by stereotyping young adults as violent individuals for instance; everyone will eventually start being wary of innocent youths who are not a threat to anybody. If a group of youths is hanging out somewhere in a corner, one will most definitely deem them as dangerous and avoid that route by all means. The way the rowdy youths are portrayed in the news and movies does not necessarily mean that any group of youths in the streets is a violent gang. But the media has made the people believe so which is not the case. How and Why Moral panic occurs Moral panics could occur as a completely new experience to the society or by an issue or aspect that has been part of the society all along but has certainly become something that makes the people concerned. If not handled well, moral panics can result in irreversible change and long-life consequences (Mcrobbie & Thornton, 1995). For instance such an instance where televisions air programmes or advertisements that are intimidating and pose a danger of portraying a bad image to children, such an instance would result in a moral panic in that, the parents would be outraged by the fact that their young children are being exposed to bad behaviours through the programmes. Such an outcry or public rage from concerned parents often leads to implications being made against the said advertisements, programmes or films (Klocke &Muschert, 2010). This could further lead into regulations being put in place or enacting of new laws and policies. Such a happening could have well been planned in advance by groups of people with special interest in a matter to present or ignite the panic so as to make the society change their perceptions about a certain matter and drive for change that would favour the interested parties. Mcrobby and Thornton (1995) notes that moral panic is also characterized by the fact that it comes short of substantial proof. In most cases moral panics are caused by things or matters that have nothing or have no concern over the matter being brought up. The media portrays a certain subject or event in manner that the public is going to react and perceive the issue in a certain manner. The society is more irked by the exaggerations that the media portrays to distort the dangers brought about by a moral panic. With such panic the society or the public’s attention is diverted from the real and greater issues affecting the society through presenting a pre-planed justification of what caused certain events to happen. However, as pointed out by Goode and Ben (1994) moral panic can also be caused by an issue or something that has been in the society for a long period but has never been seen as a threat or shocking to the society. Such an issue suddenly becomes an issue of concern to an extent of being seen as a threat by the same society. For instance, young people mostly the youths are in most cases portrayed by the society as the breakers and threat to the normal accepted norms or morals in a society. But the youths and this mentality has always been there generation after generation. For instance as noted by Klocke &Muschert (2010), that at some point in the 1960’s, there was an extensive worry and concern due to the influence of rock n’ roll music which the society felt was promoting unacceptable behaviour. At some point the society also felt as if the youths were a threat to the society with the issue of drug abuse. Moral panics are dated to have started occurring long time ago during word war i and they still occur today despite some degree of differences in their nature (Goode &Ben, 1994). This singling out has led to some discriminatory attention being subjected to innocent youths from the law enforcers due to the perception of being dangerous and violent. Such moral panic caused by such an instance could even act as a catalyst to make the subjects wrongfully arrested and singled out to become what the society thinks of them which is violent and dangerous. As much as panic may lead to enactment or change of certain policies, some panic could lead to degrading rather than upgrading of the society’s values and morals due to their exaggerated and distorted nature. Bullying is an issue that has always been there in the society and for instance in schools. However, the media can report an instance of bullying and portray it in a manner that would cause panic in the society. They achieve this by reporting such an instance as a concern for the future and causes panic among the public that would have otherwise not cared had the bullying issue not been brought on the news. Even with genuine threat to the society, the media creates exaggerated and unproven claims that would cause a concern among the public hence triggering a moral panic (Klocke &Muschert 2010). Such reporting creates debates among the public with some made to believe that an event or an issue could lead to a crisis. Some people feel vulnerable and fail to see the reality behind the reporting due to the manner it is presented hence causing the public to see an issue as an extensive predicament than it actually is. When there is a Moral panic, many innocent and undeserving individuals are victimized into believing in the exaggerated media reports. For example, certain claims in the newspapers could trigger moral panics mainly due to the manner in which they do their reporting and interpret certain subjects. The report or claim could state that something needs to be done to change a certain aspect or matter. Through such a report the society or the general public is motivated to put in check some aspects which are degrading or threatening the moral standards or culture of the society. The implications are then exaggerated and linked to their story such as to cause panic and anxiety to the public. Goode & Ben, (1994) notes that the media portrays certain symbols with respect to particular instances such as to make the public or the society to associate such instances to a particular group with which the public will pick up relative concern. This is because such a group that is associated with such happenings could be a group associated with certain unacceptable or bad behaviours such as drug abuse and promiscuity. For instance the implication of terrorists being from the Islamic religion is a degrading panic. This panic would see an individual alight from a bus that he boarded just because his seat is next to a Muslim’s. Such implications have made the world to associate Muslims with acts of terrorism which is actually not the case. Whenever the headlines read about terrorism an Islamic name is brought up. This scares the society into having different attitudes and perception within the society. For example with the case of drug abuse, many reports have been made by the media but not all can be backed by substantial evidence to prove their credibility. Drug abuse is known to have many effects in the shorter or longer life period. Many researchers have established the side effects of certain drugs and some are still ongoing to clearly establish the effects. However, when the media reports about such a case scenario, it exaggerates the effects and even reports on the findings of unconcluded studies which then causes an extensive moral panic (Mcrobby & Thornton, 1995). The TV especially the news section will always have a dreadful story linking youth gangs to acts of violence and assault. With such reporting the media already portrays the youths as violent people to an extent that if one comes across a young person with a hood on at a deserted alley, they might just change their direction or clutch whatever they hold dear close to them. It is quite apparent that not every youth today is violent. And not every one of them who wears a hood is part of a gang or has a gun. But when the media is reporting about a violent assault that happened, they show some related pictures of violent youths probably even from a movie scene. The society on seeing such a report will be made to believe that the youths are violent and dangerous hence creating a moral panic. Conclusion It can be said that the media being free from any body’s control is significant and essential in establishing and seeing the continuity of freedom and differing opinions within the society. Through the media and the reporting the public is put on alert to ensure it upholds its moral standards and deal with any thing posing a threat to the society. However, the media in most times tends to express concern that is not needed by the society. This concerns lead to the moral panic and outrage from the public and portrays a certain group as stereotypes of gangs and criminals. This has been seen to cause discriminatory treatment from law agencies as well as wrongfully singling out innocent individuals mostly youths for things that have just been orchestrated by the media to bring forth the public outcry and hence panic in the society. It is therefore of essence to regulate the media with regard to triggering moral panics without substantial evidence or proof of the matters raised. If these moral panics are not put in check then some people would only use their influence and through the media continue causing public panic only in their self interest. References Goode, E., & Ben, Y.1994. Moral Panics: The Social Construction of Deviance. 2nd Edition.Malden: Wiley-Blackwell Klocke, B.V., & Muschert, G. 2010. A hybrid model of moral panics: synthesizing the theory and practice of moral panic research. Sociology Compass, 4(5), 295–309 McRobbie, A. & Thornton, S.L. 1995. Rethinking ‘moral panic’ for multi-mediated social worlds. British Journal of Sociology, 46(4), 559–74 Read More