Moral Panics

Kenneth Thompson

За особеностите на екземпляра

Състояние:: Добро
Забележка:: Използвана книга, отчислен библиотечен екземпляр, отлично книжно тяло, здрави корици, леко захабен външен вид.
Език:: Английски
Наличност:: 1 бр.

За изданието

Издателство:: Routledge
Град на издаване:: London, New York
Година:: 1998 г.
Език:: Английски
Страници:: 157
Корици:: Твърди
Категория:: Медии и журналистика
Тегло (гр.):: 280
Ширина (мм):: 135
Височина (мм):: 205
Дебелина (мм):: 18
ISBN:: 9780415119764

It is widely acknowledged that this is the age of the moral panic. Newspaper headlines continually warn of some new danger resulting from moral laxity, and television programmes echo the theme with sensational documentaries. This concise guide presents and compares the various different approaches that have been adopted in studies of moral panics and integrates concepts such as ‘risk’ which have been developed in related fields. With the increasing number of moral panics in recent years triggered by incidents such as the Bulger child murder by other children and the spread of AIDS, this book examines their wider significance, particularly in terms of the functioning of the mass media. In this book, Kenneth Thompson traces the developments in moral panic studies and also reintroduces some of the initial broader relevance of this field by treating moral panics not simply as separate episodes but in relation to systems of representation and regulation, and as symptoms of wider social and cultural tensions. Kenneth Thompson is Professor of Sociology at the Open University. * PREFACE Although the central concern of this book is with one of sociology’s key ideas - moral panics - the title might have been lengthened to Moral Panics and the Media to indicate an intention to bring together subjects and sets of literature that frequently overlap but where the connections between them have not been fully explored by sociologists. Moral panics have been the preserve of sociologists of collective behaviour and social deviance. Media sociologists, for their part, have tended to regard moral panics as exceptional phenomena and not central to their field. Furthermore, the ‘moral’ element in moral panics has tended to be glossed over by those sociologists who have adopted the term, with little concern for its place within a wider sociology of morals (including beliefs and ideologies) (see K. Thompson 1986; W. Thompson 1990a) and in relation to changing forms of moral regulation (K. Thompson 1997). Sometimes panics about food (e.g. the BSE scare about infected beef) or health have been confused with panics that relate directly to morals. In fact, the theoretical status of the concept of moral panics has been surprisingly neglected. Its meaning is taken to be selfevident and it is used not only by sociologists but also by the mass media. As such, it provides a good example of the explanatory problems faced by social science because they concern a ‘pre-interpreted’ world of lay meanings, thus involving what Anthony Giddens has called a ‘double hermeneutic’: There is a two-way connection between the language of social science and ordinary language. The former cannot ignore the categories used by laymen in the practical organization of social life; but on the other hand, the concepts of social science may also be taken over and applied by laymen as elements of their conduct. Rather than treating the latter as something to be avoided or minimized as far as possible, as inimical to the interests of‘prediction’, we should understand it as integral to the subject-subject relation involved in the social sciences. (Giddens 1977:12) In other words, in the context of studying moral panics and the media, we should be prepared to find the media themselves using this and other social science concepts when giving their own accounts of these phenomena. Consequently, analysis cannot simply be a question of the detached sociological observer, with superior knowledge, passing judgement on ‘actors’ involved in events or in giving their accounts of them. These people, the subjects’ being investigated, have to be treated as knowledgeable and skilled interpreters of the events and discussions in which they are involved. The task of the sociologist is to attempt to understand those events and the accounts of them - the different meanings and rationales given to them - as well as other facts’ or objective information about the events. The reason for mentioning these theoretical and methodological issues at the beginning is that the very term moral panics’ seems to imply a negative judgement, implying naivety on the part of some of those involved and manipulation on the part of others. Even the word ‘panic’ might well be regarded as an unfortunate choice, since it has the negative connotation that the behaviour has to be dismissed as irrational. Provided care is taken to avoid jumping to conclusions about the motivations (e.g. manipulative) or mental state (e.g. implied ‘irrationality’) of those involved, the concept of ‘moral panic’ can be useful in spotlighting a form of behaviour and pattern of events that is increasingly common in our media-saturated (or media-rich) modern society. The first chapter will discuss the meaning of the concept and how it developed. This will entail showing how it relates to other concepts and theories. We will then consider some typical characteristics of the phenomena designated as moral panics and the processes through which they develop, particularly with regard to the mass media. Subsequent chapters will be devoted to discussing some of the classic studies of moral panics and to analysing moral panics in relation to specific areas of social concern, such as youth, children and the family, and sex on television. This book aims to do three things: first, to present and compare the various different approaches that have been adopted in studies of moral panics; second, to develop a distinctive approach that integrates the study of moral panics with concepts and theories developed in related fields, such as the concepts of ‘risk’ and ‘discourse’ and studies of culture and ideology, and in terms of reactions to changes in the forms of moral regulation; third, to examine the wider significance of the increasing number of moral panics in recent years, particularly in terms of the functioning of the mass media. As we will see, the field of study of moral panics was initially developed by a British sociologist, Stanley Cohen, partly building on American ideas on labelling, interactionism and deviancy theory, but at a time when these ideas were giving way in British sociology to more radical and Marxist theories. Subsequently, the subject has been reintegrated into American sociology, with a tendency to lose the initial theoretical cutting edge and to reject the earlier radical concern to disclose the processes of social control and ideological conflict involved in moral panics. In recent British sociology, by contrast, there has been a tendency to dispense with the concept on the grounds that it involves subjecting representations’ to the judgement of ‘the real’, rather than concentrating on the operations of representational systems in their own right. This book will trace the developments in moral panic studies and also attempt to reintroduce some of the initial broader relevance of this field by treating moral panics not simply as separate episodes but in relation to systems of representation and regulation, and as possible symptoms of wider social and cultural tensions. I am grateful to a number of friends and colleagues who have discussed some of these issues with me and stimulated my thinking. In particular I would like to thank Stuart Hall and my fellow researchers on our ESRC project on Moral Regulation and Television’ - Anita Sharma and Robert Bocock. I would also like to pay tribute to the research abilities of my daughter Clare, who gave valuable assistance. ** Contents Preface vii 1 ‘Why the Panic?’ - The Topicality of the Concept of Moral Panics 1 The History and Meaning of the Concept 7 Risk Society 22 Discourses and Discursive Practices 24 Mass Media and the Public Sphere 27 2 The Classic Moral Panic - Mods and Rockers 31 The Role of the Media 32 Social Control Agents and Moral Entrepreneurs 36 Social Context 39 Summary of Cohen’s Approach 42 3 Moral Panics About Youth 43 Club Cultures and Raves 50 4 Moral Panic About Mugging 57 5 Moral Panics About Sex and AIDS 72 AIDS 73 6 Family, Children and Violence 87 Risk 87 Children at Risk 94 Video Nasties Panic 102 7 Female Violence and Girl Gangs 111 8 Moral Panics About Sex on the Screen 121

Ключови думи: книги на английски език, popular culture, media studies, ethical issues, debates, sociology