Strengths and weaknesses of moral panics PDF

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Notes discussing strengths and weaknesses of Cohen's theory of moral panics....

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Analysis of Cohen’s moral panic: Strengths: - Demonstrates clearly the social structure of society; and how superior groups can successfully apply a label to a group they view as subordinate to them; this label is then stuck with the inferior group; resulting in a self-fulfilling prophecy. Successfully demonstrates how significant power is in society. - Demonstrates how key the media’s role is in relation to crime; without the media’s amplification, labelling and exaggeration, certain things would not be viewed as deviant or criminal to the extent they are today. For example, the contemporary moral panic of drill music and hoodies. - Although Cohen’s theory was developed in the 1970s, it is still relevant to this day and is applicable to contemporary sociology and criminology; some more recent/contemporary examples where Cohen’s moral panics are seen in society are 1. Rave culture / ecstasy usage 2. Drill music 3. Terrorism 4. Immigration Weaknesses: -

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Jewkes (2004) – the level of deviancy in Cohen’s theory is not recognised; there is no doubt there is a significant difference in use of marijuana and child sex abuse. And so the social and media reaction may be exaggerated for marijuana, would it really be an exaggeration for a problem as bad as child sex abuse? In fact, the ‘moral panic’ which was caused from Jimmy Saville may not have been over exaggerated and in fact some people claim it done society good because many survivors opened up about their experiences. Some argue morality is not fixed; for example, what a moral panic was in the 1970’s may be completely different from a moral panic in 2020; Cohen did not discuss the fluidity of morality. However, this is not a major issue, this argument shows how moral panics are still relevant in contemporary society despite a completely different ‘moral climate’. Another argument against the theory of moral panics is that it tends to assume that society as a whole are easily manipulated by the media and will believe anything they are told. There is no doubt lots of people are aware of political bias, and we try to consume media with this in mind. However, the language and methods used in the media are very specific; they are able to manipulate people in subtle ways by using certain words, which you would not even detect as manipulative. This subconscious way of manipulation is evident in almost all forms of media....