Moral panics Essay Example for Free

Moral terrors studyThe confines moral alarm suggests a dramatic and rapid overre pretendion to forms of deviance or equipment casualtydoing believed to be a direct threat to party. The most common definition of a moral panic is the gap paragraph of Folk Devils and Moral Panics by Stanley Cohen Societies appear to be subject, every now and then, to periods of moral panic.(1) A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal sterilise and interests (2) its nature is presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media (3) the moral barricades atomic number 18 manned by editors, bishops, politicians and opposite right-thinking people (4) soci eachy accredited experts pronounce their diagnoses and solutions (5) ways of coping ar evolved or ( much practically) resorted to (6) the condition then disappears, submerges or deteriorates and becomes more visible. sometimes the object of panic is quite unfermented and at other times it is something which has been in existence long enough, but suddenly appears in the limelight. Sometimes the panic passes over and is forgotten, except in folk lore and collective memory at other times it has more serious and long-lasting repercussions and might produce such changes as those in pro form and social policy or even in the way the union conceives itself. Although in Cohens original pass away the numbers did not appear, but they can be said to represent the six stages in the training of a moral panic.One such moral panic was the moving-picture show nasties case after the throng Bulger murder in 1993. Robert Thompson and Jon Venebles, who were both ten years old at the time, abducted James from the Strand obtain centre in Bootle, Liverpool. They walked him two miles to a railway line where they inflicted massive injuries on him, which resulted in his death. This aberrant act dominated the report advertizes and created a panic. This murder was portrayed as a horrific act in the budge and symbolized the degeneration of modern British society. The Bulger case was used, by the media, to symbolise all what was wrong with Britain.They focused on the difference between innocence and evil and why we as a society allow this happen, it suggested the increase of public indifference, lowering family values and increasing isolation, generating massive public guilt and predicting a breakdown in society itself. Fuelled by the press reports, reasons were sought why the murder of James Bulger may fork out happened. This prompted demands for tighter controls, curfews for young people and stricter laws. One of these laws was for stricter controls on violent films, or telly nasties, as the press called them.This was because the trial judge, who sentenced Venebles and Thompson to be detained at Her Majestys Pleasure, unusually made a statement in open philander claiming that he believed violent videos may in part be an explanation to why the boys set upted murder. He in particular singled out the film Childs Play 3, which he stated had some striking similarities to the port of the attack on James Bulger. The police officer in charge of the case told The Guardian newspaper that he had no evidence to suggest that the boys had access to any videos worse than might be found in many households.This comment didnt matter, the scapegoat had been found and this was the starting point for the second moral panic about video nasties. The first such panic occurred between 1982-1984 during the influx of video cassette recorders (VCR), one-third of households have or rented a VCR. Coincidentally, Hollywood produced a crop of gruesome horror films which prompted many complaints, due to the extreme violence of such films, including sadism, mutilation and cannibalism. Laws were set up to prevent children from renting or buying 18 security system films, and The Daily Mails Ban The Sadist Videos campaign was set up.During the course of this first video nasty moral panic, the term video nasty was unmistakably synonymous simply with horror films and by 1984 the Video Recordings Act had been set up and became law. During the Bulger trial the press used emotive language to create a moral panic about the influences of video nasties. The press wanted to blame the moral decline on liberal permissiveness, the crumble of family flavor and the failings of schools, but the real culprit in the Bulger case was the arguments about the effects of the media.Every newspaper focused in detail on the alleged influence of video nasties. The Sun declared that An x-rated video may have sown the seeds of murder in the mind of one of James Bulgers killers and the Daily reverberate ran the headline Judge Blames Violent Videos. Childs Play 3, a film about a doll which comes to life and perpetrates a series of murders, had been rented by one of the parents of one of the boys shortly before the murder. However, the police did n ot give the film as evidence in court as there was no evidence that every Venebles or Thompson had actually watched it.Whether or not the film had played a part in inciting the boys to commit murder, the video became the scapegoat. The press simplified the moral issues by concentrating on the video to the exclusion of virtually all other possible influences on the killers. The day after the judges summing up the Daily Mirror printed scandalmongering insurance coverage of the evil and sick video in the first few pages of the paper. Later Mirror coverage included an interview with the films director, David Kirschner, quoting him as saying that Childs Play 3 was never intended for kids and that he wouldnt let his own children watch it.The Suns coverage was more graphic than that of the Mirror. The front page of an issue led with the headline For the sake of ALL our kids BURN YOUR VIDEO NASTY, launching a campaign to destroy all copies of Childs Play3 by asking readers and video shop outlets to burn them. In the same issue a graph was in addition printed showing the heart rate of a Sun journalist who watched Childs Play 3 whilst wired to a heart monitor, her heart rate increased during the most violent parts of the film.The Sun used this experiment to prove that the video was indeed an incitement to murder, trying to prove that the furore over the so-called video nasties was a valid one. The case of the Bulger murder was seen to encompass every negative aspect of society which is unequivocal in todays world. The Times described this as a reminder of humanitys most ancient and bestial instincts. Comments kindred this gave the press the opportunity to preach to society about modern social values and the need to proceeds to a vigilant network of neighbours looking out for one another.The Times also used the give-and-take alarm to sensationalise the more accurate term concern, this use of language brings a new urgency to the turn about the video nasty moral p anic. The press, using sensational media scaremongering, as they do to sell more papers, focused entirely on how violent films and in particular Childs Play 3 incited the two boys to commit murder. Describing the film using words such as sick and evil, and even drawing parallels between the killings in the film and how James Bulger was murdered, of which none were proved in court.Moral panics tap into the publics fears for their safety and the safety of their society around them. In many instances the press coverage of such events doesnt help in alleviating the publics fears, more often than not the press heighten these fears. They do this through sensationalism reporting. As tragic as it was that a young toddler was killed it allowed the people who hold power in this country to enforce their ideas and rules more CCTV cameras were installed in the country because of how essential they were in identifying James murderers.Many panics result in official change and have long-lasting re percussions, as was the case of the video nasties moral panic. The Video Recording Act 1984 was set up introducing the regulations of videos through the British Board of Film Classification. The debates upon the lack of parental control in monitoring childrens cover and the dangers of young children watching films intended for a mature audience led to further regulations in 1994.Bibliography chime A, Joyce M, Rivers D, Advanced Level Media. Hodder Stoughton, UK, 1999Bowker, Julian, Looking at Media Studies, Hodder and Stoughton, UK, 2003Cohen, Stanley, Folk Devils and Moral Panics, Macgibbon and Kee, London, 1972Critcher, Chas, Moral Panics and the Media, Open University Press, UK, 2003Price, Stuart, Media Studies (2nd Edition), Longman, UK, 1999