Moral Panic

Moral panic in Law Enforcement

Main Entry: Law Enforcement in the Legal Dictionary. This section provides, in the context of Law Enforcement, a partial definition of moral panic.

Resources

See Also

• Law Enforcement Officer
• Police
• Law Enforcement Agency

Further Reading

• moral panic in A Dictionary of Law Enforcement (Oxford University Press)
• moral panic in the Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement
• A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis

Definition of Moral Panic

The Canada social science dictionary [1] provides the following meaning of Moral Panic: Suggests a panic or overreaction to forms of deviance or wrong doing believed to be threats to the moral order. Moral panics are usually fanned by the media and led by community leaders or groups intent on changing laws or practices. Sociologists are less interested in the validity of the claims made during moral panics than they are with the dynamics of social change and the organizational strategies of moral entrepreneurs. Moral panics gather converts because they touch on people’s fears and because they also use specific events or problems as symbols of what many feel to represent ‘all that is wrong with the nation’. The moral panic over youth violence, for example, presents this violence as a symbol of all that is wrong with Canada – it is claimed that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms has undermined authority; the family has fallen apart; immigration has brought many disreputable groups into the country; governments and their agents have become self-serving and out of touch with the reality of social life; economic transformation has marginalized and demoralized young people.

Moral Panic: Resources

Notes and References

• Drislane, R., & Parkinson, G. (2016). (Concept of) Moral Panic. Online dictionary of the social sciences. Open University of Canada