Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A semi-
spontaneous ormedia -generated mass movement based on theperception that an individual, group, community, or culture is dangerouslydeviant and poses amenace to society. A publicoutcry .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Coined in 1972 by Stanley Cohen, who coined the phrase to describe media coverage of Mods and Rockers in Great Britain in the 1960s.
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Examples
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vendingmachine commented on the word moral panic
Witch-hunts are an example of mass behavior fueled by moral panic.
More recent examples:
sexual assault on college campuses; human trafficking; sex offender panic (people convicted of any sex crime), satanic ritual abuse; AIDS; video games; increases in crime; war on drugs.
June 20, 2015