Critical Readings: Moral Panics and the Media

by Chas Critcher

Overview

First developed by Stanley Cohen in 1972, 'moral panic' is a key term in media studies, used to refer to sudden eruptions of indignant concern about social issues. An occurrence of moral panic is characterised by stylized and stereotypical representation by the mass media and a tendency for those in power to claim the moral high ground and pronounce judgement. In this important book, Chas Critcher brings together essential readings on moral panics, which he locates in contemporary debates through an editor's introduction and concise section introductions.

The first section discusses moral panic models and includes contributions on the history and intellectual background of the concept. Differences in thinking between British and American moral panic scholarship are also examined. A second section features important case studies, including AIDS, Satanism, drugs, paedophilia and asylum seekers. This is followed by readings that look at themes such as the importance of language, rhetoric and discourse; the dynamics of media reporting and how it affects public opinion; and the idea of the 'risk society'. Finally, readings critique and debate the use and relevance of moral panic models. Critical Readings: Moral Panics and the Media is a valuable resource for students and researchers in media studies, criminology and sociology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780335218073
Publisher:	McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing
Publication date:	03/28/2006
Series:	Issues in Cultural and Media Studies
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

Table of Contents

Series Editor's Foreword
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements for Readings
Introduction: More Questions Than Answers   Chas Critcher     1
Models     25
Deviance and Panics   Stan Cohen (1973)     29
The Changing Shape of 'Panics'   Stuart Hall   Chas Critcher   Tony Jefferson   John Clarke   Bryan Roberts (1978)     41
Moral Panics: An Introduction   Erich Goode   Nachman Ben-Yehuda (1994)     50
The History and Meaning of the Concept   Kenneth Thompson (1998)     60
Cases     67
AIDS: The Intellectual Agenda   Jeffrey Weeks (1989)     77
Satanism: Myth and Reality in a Contemporary Moral Panic   Philip Jenkins   Daniel Maier-Katkin (1992)     88
Moral Panic as Ideology: Drugs, Violence, Race and Punishment in America   Theodore Chiricos (1996)     103
Panic at the Port   Stephen Stockwell (1997)     124
The Ultimate Neighbour from Hell? Stranger Danger and the Media Framing of Paedophilia   Jennifer Kitzinger (1999)     135
Children at Risk: Legal and Societal Perceptions of the Potential Threat that the Possession of Child Pornography Poses to Society   Suzanne Ost (2002)     148
Detention of Asylum Seekers in the UK and US: Deciphering Noisy and Quiet Constructions   Michael Welch   Liza Schuster (2005)     162
The Discourse of the Press and the Press of Discourse: Constructing the Drug Problem in the Russian Media   Peter Meylakhs (2005)     175
Themes     189
Rhetoric in Claims About Missing Children   Joel Best (1990)     196
Fear of Crime: Read All About it? The Relationship Between Newspaper Crime Reporting and Fear Crime   Paul Williams   Julie Dickinson (1993)     212
The Impact of Key Events on the Presentation of Reality   Hans Mathias Kepplinger   Johanna Habermeier (1995)     226
The Lens of Fear   David L. Altheide (2002)     240
Issues     25
AIDS, 'Moral Panic' Theory and Homophobia   Simon Watney (1988)     256
Re-Thinking 'Moral Panic' for Multi-Mediated Social Worlds   Angela McRobbie   Sarah L. Thornton (1995)     266
Another Look at Moral Panics: The Case of Satanic Day Care Centers   Mary de Young (1998)     277
Moral Panic Versus the Risk Society: The Implications of the Changing Sites of Social Anxiety   Sheldon Ungar (2001)     291
Risk and Panic in Late Modernity: Implications of the Converging Sites of Social Anxiety   Sean P. Hier (2003)     305
Index     319