Moral Panics

A moral panic is when a person or group of people are a threat to society’s norms and values and it
is exaggerated by the media creating public concern. Theorist Stanley Cohen created the phrase
‘moral panic’ in 1972 and observed how the media was significant in amplifying and exaggerating
certain groups of people or events that are thought of a as threat to societal values and interests.

An example of a moral panic within youth culture is ‘happy slapping’; teenagers attack innocent
victims and film it on their camera phones. I found an online article from the Guardian website called
Concern over Rise of ‘Happy Slapping’ Craze that had many examples and opinions on happy
slapping. One case was a video clip on the internet labelled Knockout Punch, where a group of boys
wearing uniforms (the article describes what they attackers are wearing to emphasize that they are
youths because the media, to create a moral panic within the community, pin point the group that is
causing this panic) are shown leading another boy across an unidentified school playground before
flooring him with a single blow to the head. The article also states that happy slapping is ‘now a
nationwide phenomenon’. Calling it a ‘phenomenon’ causes the reader to worry because it makes it
sound like it is a very drastic problem that affects everybody. Happy slapping was made into a moral
panic because camera phones were quite a new technology and accessible to everyone, even teens,
therefore the media exaggerate any problems found within a new craze.

Happy slapping fits into Stanley Cohen’s moral panic model:

1. The threat is defined; in this case it is teenagers. The younger generation and recognized and
targeted as a whole collective.
2. The threat is depicted in an easily recognisable form by the media- articles on the news,
radio and in papers picks up on the fact that it is youth causing the moral panic.
3. Public concern is rapidly built by reporting many cases, and using words like ‘phenomenon’
in newspaper articles which makes it sound like it will affect everyone, when actually it is a
very small population that commit this offence.
4. There is a response from authorities; in schools in Lewisham, south London, and St Albans
camera phones were banned because of worries that the fad was leading to an increase in
playground bullying.
5. The panic recedes or results in social changes. The article I am using as evidence is from
2005, and although happy slapping is still around today, it is not talked as much anymore
because camera phones and uploading videos to the internet are not a new craze.