Overview
Critcher’s article gives an overview of moral panic theories and debates. He also responds to some of the criticism by offering updates on the concept. Tiffen’s chapter summarizes some of the criticisms against the concept of moral panic in newer times. And Goode and Ben-Yehuda’s article is an update of the original moral panic models with new insights. These three articles will give you an idea about the origins of the concept; how it has been applied, and the debates around it.
Please answer the following questions by numbering them in the same way in your journal entry.
CRITCHER
Critcher begins his chapter with Stanley Cohen’s original work on moral panic in the 1960s which was later identified as the processual model of moral panic.
What are the 6 phases of a moral panic (processual model) according to Cohen?
And who are the agents of a moral panic?
Why does Cohen think that moral panics happen?
- How did Hall et al. develope Cohen’s model in their seminal work, Policing the Crisis? What were their contributions?
What are the five defining elements of a moral panic in the attributional model? Do not merely name them but explain them briefly.
- What are the differences and similarities of these two models (processual and attributional) according to Critcher?
- What are the main criticisms against the concept and how does Critcher respond to them?
- GOODE and BEN-YEHUDA
What is moral in a moral panic according to Goode and Ben-Yehuda?
- What is the constructionist approach? What is the main difference between objectivist and constructionist approaches?
Goode and Ben-Yehuda identify two main arguments against the concept of moral panic: exaggeration (society’s reaction may not always be exaggerated) and disproportion (it is impossible to verify the claim that a given level of concern is out of proportion to a given level of threat). How do they challenge these criticisms?
- And what are the main elements of the vertical and horizontal models that they propose? How does this update help solve some of the conceptual problems?
- WALBY AND SPENCER
What is the role of emotions in moral panics, according to the authors? What is their criticism of moral panic literature, when it comes to emotions?