Moral Panics

Packed with new examples and material, this second edition provides a fully up-to-date exploration of the genesis, dynamics, and demise of moral panics and their impacts on the societies in which they take place. Packed with updated and recent examples including terrorism, the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Towers, school shootings, flag burning, and the early-2000s resurgence of the “sex slave” scare Includes a new chapter on the media, currently regarded as a major component of the moral panic Devotes a chapter to addressing criticisms of the first edition as well as the moral panics concept itself Written by long-established experts in the field Designed to fit both self-contained courses on moral panics and wider courses on deviance

Preface and Acknowledgements viii Prologue 1 1 Enter the Moral Panic 20 2 The Moral Panic: An Introduction 34 3 Three Theories of the Moral Panic 51 4 The Moral Panic Meets Its Critics 73 5 The Media Ignite and Embody the Moral Panic 88 6 Deviance, Morality, and Criminal Law 109 7 Collective Behavior 129 8 Social Movements 141 9 Social Problems 150 10 The Renaissance Witch Craze 168 11 Drug Abuse Panics 197 12 The Feminist Anti-Pornography Crusade 218 Epilogue: The Demise and Institutionalization of the Moral Panic 245 References 251 Author Index 270 Subject Index 275