Moral panics

Processual model-

Emergence- when a form of behaviour comes to be perceived as a threat.

Media inventory- an explanation of the threat articulated primarily through the media (strategies include exaggeration/ distortion, prediction and symbolization).

Moral entrepreneurs- groups or organisations speaking out on the nature of the problem and solutions.

Experts- socially accredited experts who pronounce their diagnoses and solutions.

Coping and resolution- reaction of the media, moral entrepreneurs and experts contain ideas about the required measures. If current legal powers are insufficient demands for legal reform will follow.

Fading away- the condition disappears, submerges, or deteriorates and becomes more visible.

Legacy- a moral panic may have little long term lasting effect, or may produce big changes in, for example, social policy, the law or society's view of itself.

The Attributional model-

Concern- a heightened level of concern manifesting itself in measurable ways such as opinion polls, public commentary in the form of media attention, proposed legislation, social movement activity etc.

Hostility- increased level of hostility toward the group or category. Members are collectively designated as the enemy of respectable society and their behaviour seen as harmful or threatening to the values, interests, and even existence of society or at least a sizeable proportion of society. These groups (called 'folk devils' by Stan Cohen in his study Folk Devils and Moral Panics 1973) are constructed through a process of stereotyping and are essential to a moral panic.

Consensus- a substantial segment of the public must see the threat as real, serious and caused by the wrongdoing group members.

Disproportionality- where public concern is in excess of what is appropriate if concern where proportionate to objective harm.

Volatility- the idea that moral panics are volatile by nature, erupting quickly and often subsiding just as quickly. A moral panic might build on previous ones, but each episode cannot be sustained for long.