scholarly journals ‘Do We Look like Boy Racers?’ The Role of the Folk Devil in Contemporary Moral Panics

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Lumsden
Keyword(s):  
Moral Panic ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Moral Panics ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Young Drivers ◽  
The Media ◽  
Collective Process ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Societal Reaction

This article addresses the failure of studies concerning moral panics to take into account the reaction of those individuals who are the subject of social anxiety. It responds to the suggestion by McRobbie and Thornton (1995) that studies of moral panic need to account for the role played by the ‘folk devils’ themselves, for a moral panic is a collective process (Young, 2007). The paper presents findings from ethnographic fieldwork with the ‘boy racer’ culture in Aberdeen, qualitative interviews with members of outside groups, and content analysis of media articles. The societal reaction to the ‘boy racer’ subculture in Aberdeen is evidence of a contemporary moral panic. The media's representation of the subculture contributed to the stigmatization of young drivers and the labelling of the subculture's activities as deviant and antisocial. The drivers were aware of their negative portrayal in the media; however their attempts to change the myth of the ‘boy racer’ were unsuccessful. Although subcultural media can provide an outlet of self-expression for youths, these forms of media can also become caught-up in the moral panic. Ironically the youths’ own niche and micro media reified the (ir)rationality for the moral panic.

scholarly journals Media Frames of the Ontario Safe Streets Act: assessing the moral panic model

SURG Journal ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-17
Author(s):  
Michael Bates
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Moral Panic ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Moral Panics ◽  
Media Frames ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Media

This paper assesses the “moral panic” framework of Stanley Cohen with reference to panhandling and squeegeeing in Ontario. There are four general tenets of the moral panic model, three of which can be said to have been documented in the case of panhandling in Ontario: a recognized threat (panhandling), a rise in public concern, and punitive control mechanisms established to eliminate the threat. This paper argues that the fourth tenet, a stereotypical presentation of the moral threat to the social order, has not been systematically analyzed, and therefore that is the task of this paper. Specifically, this paper examines the framing used by the mainstream print media in Ontario to construct the panhandling/squeegeeing problem. Articles and letters­ to the­ editor were sampled from two mainstream Ontario newspapers, the Toronto Star and the Ottawa Citizen, to examine the mainstream media’s framing of panhandling and squeegee cleaning. This sample was taken between 1995 and 2005, a timeframe which revolves around the implementation of the Ontario Safe Streets Act 2000, which is recognized as the punitive control mechanism designed to eliminate the threat of panhandling. The findings of this paper lead to the conclusion that panhandling in Ontario during the implementation of the Ontario Safe Streets Act does not constitute a classic moral panic by virtue of the role the media played. However, the evidence that punitive control mechanisms were established absent the support of the mainstream media suggests that a deeper understanding of the role of mainstream media as well as political interests is required with respect to framing moral panics.

scholarly journals The social function of moral panic

2020 ◽  
pp. 59-75
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Ilić
Keyword(s):  
Social Control ◽  
Moral Panic ◽  
Social Function ◽  
Moral Panics ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Professional Attitude ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Creation

In this paper, the author discusses the social context of moral panic, ie the role of various social factors in the creation of moral panic. Starting from the known mechanisms of moral panic (traditional and newer), the author considers the roles of the subjects of informal and formal social control in this process. In that sense, it stands out the activity of various moral activists as representatives of the informal social structure who, by propagating the importance of moral protection, often participate in the process of creating of many moral panics. On the other hand, the activities of formal social control bodies are regulated by an appropriate legal frame-work whose task is to solve the problem of crime in society. This implies a professional attitude of the police, the prosecution and the courts in terms of combating crime. The author points out the problem of the participation of the representatives of these bodies in the creation and development of moral panic, considering it in the context of the culture of control, ie its elements, emphasizing especially the role of the police. The author connects all the mentioned segments of the social function of moral panic with the role of the media as an unavoidable factor in the process of moral panic. At the end of the paper, the author emphasizes the importance of the role of the media in raising awareness of the importance of individual actions of all social actors in order to avoid their participation in the creation of moral panic that unfavorable affects on solving the problem of crime.

The American Ghetto, Gangster, and Respect on the Streets of Copenhagen: Media(tion)s between Structure and Street Culture

2021 ◽  
pp. 089124162110569
Author(s):  
Hakan Kalkan
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Perceived Similarity ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Street Culture ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Relationship

“Street culture” is often considered a response to structural factors. However, the relationship between culture and structure has rarely been empirically analyzed. This article analyzes the role of three media representations of American street culture and gangsters—two films and the music of a rap artist—in the street culture of a disadvantaged part of Copenhagen. Based on years of ethnographic fieldwork, this article demonstrates that these media representations are highly valuable to and influential among young men because of their perceived similarity between their intersectional structural positions and those represented in the media. Thus, the article illuminates the interaction between structural and cultural factors in street culture. It further offers a local explanation of the scarcely studied phenomenon of the influence of mass media on street culture, and a novel, media-based, local explanation of global similarities in different street cultures.

scholarly journals In The Middle: Being Portuguese And Gay In The Wake Of The Emanuel Jaques Murder In 1977 Toronto

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Gay Men ◽  
Coming Of Age ◽  
Moral Panic ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Homosexual Men ◽  
The Media ◽  
Old Portuguese ◽  
The City ◽  
Two Sides

This thesis revisits the murder of the 12-year-old Portuguese immigrant boy Emanuel Jaques in Toronto in 1977 and the cultural response it ignited through qualitative interviews with five Portuguese gay men who were coming of age around this moment. Homosexual men across the city were conflated with the men who murdered Jaques because of their sexualities and depicted as a threat to children by politicians, law officials, protestors, and members of the media. Young Portuguese gay men found themselves in between two sides of an intense moral panic yet their experiences had not previously been sought out and recorded. They recall facing a fear of self and of others following the murder, a questioning or rejection of their sexualities, and in one case, continuing guilt. These experiences are considered within a broader context of what it meant to be Portuguese and gay in the ‘70s and ‘80s in Toronto.

scholarly journals MEDIA REPORTING AND COMMUNICATION IN CRISIS SITUATIONS: A CASE STUDY OF A REFUGEE CRISIS IN B&H

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-85
Author(s):  
Suada A. Dzogovic ◽  
◽  
Vehbi Miftari ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
South Eastern Europe ◽  
Communication Challenges ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Migration Crisis

The topic of this article presents communication challenges and the role of the media in constructing an image of migrants and refugees as “the others” in our societies today. The article analyses the migrant situation in South-Eastern Europe, specifically in migration crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina that has been going on since 2018. The aim is to present the basic aspects of this issue and offer answers to key questions - who are migrants and refugees, what’s their own identity, from which countries do they come, how do they cross the border, where do they go, what is the state’s attitude towards them, what forms and channels of communication the state and other stakeholders use toward them, who cares for them, what do they preserve from their national, cultural and/or language identities and how do they construct self-identity and confront with the “hosting identities”, who donates funds for migration management and how they are managed? Also, a special focus of the research will be on the human rights of migrants and refugees in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is the subject of various discussions - both within the country itself and among various humanitarian, governmental and non-governmental international organizations in the EU and beyond.

scholarly journals Cannabis, Moral Entrepreneurship, and Stigma: Conflicting Narratives on the 26 May 2016 Toronto Police Raid on Cannabis Shops

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-171
Author(s):  
Thaddeus Müller
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Moral Panic ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Social World ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Social Constructions ◽  
Moral Panics ◽  
The Media ◽  
Police Raid ◽  
Do So

On May 26, 2016, the police raided 43 cannabis dispensaries in Toronto, Canada, making 90 arrests. This article aims to describe the narrative of the responsible state agencies concerning the police raid and compare it to the narrative of those who opposed it, such as activists, as well as consumers and sellers of cannabis. While such concepts as moral entrepreneur, moral panic, and moral crusade have traditionally been used to study those in power, I will employ them to explore both the state narrative and ways in which counterclaims-makers resisted it. In order to do so, I will further develop the concept of moral entrepreneurship and its characteristics by relating it to studies of moral panics and social problems. This article will be guided by the following question: How did each party socially construct its cannabis narrative, and in what way can we use the concept of moral entrepreneurship to describe and analyze these narratives as social constructions? I have investigated the media coverage of the raid and ethnographically studied shops in Toronto in order to study the narratives. My findings show that both parties used a factual neutral style, as well as a dramatizing style. The later includes such typical crusading strategies as constructing victims and villains and presenting the image of a dystopian social world. In order to explain the use of these strategies, we will relate them to the shifting wider social and historical context and to the symbolic connotation of cannabis shops in Toronto in particular and in Canada as a whole.

The Tale of Fabled Creatures

2021 ◽  
pp. 215-233
Author(s):  
M. Nur Erdem
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Space Time ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Physical Beauty

Violence has been a part of daily life in both traditional and digital media. Consequently, neither the existence of violence in the media nor the debates on this subject are new. On the other hand, the presentation of violence in fictional content should be viewed from a different point of view, especially in the context of aesthetization. Within this context, in this chapter, the serial of Penny Dreadful is analyzed. As analyzing method, Tahsin Yücel's model of the “space/time coordinates of narrative” is used. And the subject of “aestheticization of violence” is analyzed through a serial with the elements of person, space, and time. Thus, the role of not only physical beauty but also different components in the aestheticization of violence is examined.

scholarly journals Promoting healthy sustainable societies through a circular analytical dialogue method

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Paillard-Borg
Keyword(s):  
Population Health ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Innovative Method ◽  
Academic Activism ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Sustainable Societies ◽  
Informed Society ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Background The relationship between journalists and populations is complicated and the subject of “fake news” is one of these related issues. Despite the controversy, journalistic media are the ground to a well-informed society and as such journalists have the potential to be important actors in the pursuit of population health. At the same time, frustration against journalistic media has increased globally and vulnerable and so-called ’invisible’ groups feel neglected by the media. Methods The Circular Analytical Dialogue is an innovative method for examining the dialogue between journalists and citizens and investigating the role of journalism in promoting social cohesion, population health and democracy. Results The preliminary results of a pilot study in Japan on the topic of migration, using the Circular Analytical Dialogue, show that the dynamic between the participants and the journalists was valued by all parties as it allowed a profound and valuable dialogue. The journalist was most appreciative of the feedback of the participants as it opened alternative perspectives that were not considered beforehand. Conclusions The Circular Analytical Dialogue has the dual ambition to be a research as well as a journalistic tool and the knowledge generated with this method is intended to be used to strengthen understanding about the importance of journalism for healthy democratic societies. Key messages The Circular Analytical Dialogue method reinforces the importance of academic activism strongly related to sustainable societies. The Circular Analytical Dialogue method can potentially contribute to the empowerment of populations fundamental to population health.

Moral Panic and Reading: Early Elite Anxieties About the Media Effect

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Furedi
Keyword(s):  
Moral Panic ◽  
Moral Authority ◽  
Moral Concern ◽  
Moral Panics ◽  
Media Effect ◽  
Potential Threat ◽  
The Public ◽  
Printed Media ◽  
The Media ◽  
Potential Impact

From its inception the medium of writing has been a source of moral concern. The growth of the printed media reinforced these apprehensions. Fears about the media effect on the behaviour of readers became recurring phenomena – in some cases provoking reactions characterised as a moral panic. These periodic outbursts of disquiet can be best understood as panics about the potential impact of the media on public morality. Such reactions were not simply media panics but panics about the effects of the media. The focus of anxiety was not on any particular issue but on the threat to moral authority posed by the media on the outlook and behaviour of the public. By its very existence the media appeared to represent a potential threat to the moral order. Exploring the moral dimension of this reaction is essential for the study of moral panics.

scholarly journals Australia's pharmaceutical benefits system: flawed but improving, and better than anywhere else

2001 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Dalton
Keyword(s):  
Advisory Committee ◽  
Current Process ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme

The composition and role of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) has been the subject ofacrimonious debate through the media in recent months, with accusations of government subjugation to strongindustry lobby groups at the future expense of the Australian taxpayer. An understanding of the issues at thismore political level is helped by appreciation of the rationale for the current process of listing drugs forreimbursement on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). I will try to give the non-economist reader anoverview of the system and share some perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of what is fundamentally agood system.

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