media

• Becker


  • Media sensationalise stories to do with youth deviance.
  • deviance actually increases as more people are aware of it, and more young people are encouraged to behave this way, due to labelling and self-fulfilling prophecy.
  • Master status.
  • Deviant career.
• Cohen (folk devils and moral panics)

  After mods and rockers altercation, the media exaggerated events, predicted more trouble & amplified tensions

  • coverage created a moral panic, labelling youths as folk devils, despite police & youth having different views of the events
• Wilkins


  Deviancy amplification theory:

  • media reports on deviance raise public concern & attention
  • this can lead to youth copying the behaviour
  • the reaction from authorities & further media coverage amplifies the deviance, creating a cycle
  • leads to moral panic
• Goode and Ben-Yehuda


  5 elements present in moral present in moral panics:

  1. concern
  2. Hostility towards group leading to them being folk devils
  3. Consensus
  4. Disproportionality - reaction is out of proportion to harm caused by the group
  5. Volatility - moral panics come and go quickly
• Furedi


  • Moral panics reflect deeper fears in society, especially for older generations. When society goes through big changes, some people feel anxious.
  • fears are focused on certain groups (subcultures) who are a threat to social order
  • media picks up on their anxieties which leads to a moral panic