How the Media Amplifies Deviance and Creates Moral Panics

Question 1

WILKINS – Deviancy Amplification Spiral

Answer 1

Small deviant act → media exaggerates → public panic → police crack down → deviance increases.
Media creates a bigger problem than originally existed.

Question 2

Cohen – Folk Devils and Moral Panics

Answer 2

Studied Mods and Rockers fights.
Media exaggerated small fights into big threats.
Created “folk devils” (youth groups blamed for society’s problems).
Public panic led to harsher police action — but panic faded quickly.

Question 3

Fawbert – Hoodie Moral Panic

Answer 3

2005: Hoodies linked to crime by the media after a shopping centre banned them.
Media labelled all young troublemakers as “hoodies” even if they weren’t.
Wearing hoodies became more popular because it upset authority.

Question 4

Goode and Ben-Yehuda – Features of a Moral Panic

Answer 4

5 signs a moral panic is happening:
Concern (fear about a group).
Hostility (anger at the group).
Consensus (most people agree the group is dangerous).
Disproportion (reaction is bigger than the threat).
Volatility (panic fades quickly).