Moral Panics: Culture, Politics, and Social Construction

Abstract

Social problems may fruitfully be looked at as constructed phenomena, that is, what constitutes a problem is the concern that segments of the public feel about a given condition. From the constructionist perspective, that concern need not bear a close relationship with the concrete harm or damage that the condition poses or causes. At times, substantial numbers of the members of societies are subject to intense feelings of concern about a given threat which a sober assessment of the evidence suggests is either nonexistent or consider ably less than would be expected from the concrete harm posed by the threat.Such over-heated periods of intense concern are typically short-lived. In such periods, which sociologists refer to as "moral panics," the agents responsible for the threat-"folk devils"-are stereotyped and classified as deviants. What accounts for these outbreaks or episodes of moral panics? Three theories have been proposed: grassroots, elite-engineered, and interest group theories. Moral panics are unlike fads; though both tend to be relatively short-lived, moral panics always leave an informal, and often an institutional, legacy.

Faking It Is Hard to Do: Entrepreneurial Norm Enforcement and Suspicions of Deviance

“…For instance, contemporary firms are increasingly exposed to the threat of being branded as ethically compromised by social movement activists (e.g., King and Pearce 2010). Situations of moral panic (Goode and Ben-Yehuda 1994) and purges often feature high accusability as well. It is also important to highlight that in a situation of high accusability, the fear of being accused can spread to all actors, including truly sincere conformists: even if one is free of deviance, allegations might nevertheless stick if there is no definitive proof of innocence.…”

“…After all, the empirical examples we discussed earlier-e.g., purges such as the Cultural Revolution as well as moral panics (Goode and Ben Yehuda 1994) and "the outbreaks of enforcement" that mark many scandals (Adut 2008)-involve widespread enforcement even though such enforcement occasions suspicion. 21 But if the context is one of high accusability and enforcement requires entrepreneurial initiative, why might enforcement still continue?…”

“…In fact, various empirical accounts suggest that rather than enhancing a perception of sincerity, enforcement often does raise audience suspicion that the enforcer is masking deviance. Consider research on purges such as the Chinese Cultural Revolution (Walder 2006(Walder , 2009; also, see Goode and Ben-Yehuda [1994]), whereby patterns of cross-accusation of deviance between different factions are documented. As suggested by the epigraphical quotation, such enforcement often raised suspicions that avowals of fealty to Mao were driven by the ulterior motive of wanting to protect themselves from allegations of "revisionism."…”

Moral Entrepreneurship Revisited: Police Officers Monitoring Cannabis Retailers in Rotterdam, the Netherlands

“…The concept of the moral entrepreneur is used in publications on a wide range of topics, from narcotics to promoting healthy food habits. The authors refer in general to the 'rule creator' (Galliher & Walker, 1978;Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 1994;Hollows & Jones, 2010;Shapiro, 1983;Wrage & Wrage, 2005;Young, 2009). The other subcategory of the moral entrepreneur, the rule enforcer (generally referring to the police and other agents of law and order), is explicitly discussed by Becker but not often studied in articles on moral entrepreneurs in general or with respect to the police (Lipsky, 1980;Maynard-Moody & Musheno, 2003).…”

Bioterrorismo, biodefensa, bioética

“…Las situaciones de pánico moral se concentran sobre problemas presuntamente creados por minorías sociales acotadas cuyas desviaciones morales se estiman peligrosas y se buscan neutralizar. El pánico moral se constituye con cinco elementos cruciales: preocupación, hostilidad, consenso, desproporción y volatilidad (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 1994a, 1994b. El pánico moral se genera frente a circunstancias intrasociales y se combate con mecanismos de control social.…”