jewkes

• moral panics occur when the mass media take a reasonably ordinary event and present it as an extraordinary occurrence
• the media set in motion the deviancy amplification spiral, which is the process by which media coverage of deviant behaviour leads to more deviant behaviour
• moral panics occur during periods of rapid social change, and can be said to locate and crystalise wider social anxieties about risk
• it is usually young people who are targeted, as they are a metaphor for the future and their behaviour is regarded as a barometer with which to test the health or sickness of a society
• not all folk devils can be seen to be seen to be vulnerable or marginalised, like paedophiles or bankers responsible for the banking crisis