Understanding the Phrase Moral Panic - Coursework Example

Introduction Butts (2006) explain that the concept of morality is borrowed from the Latin word, denoted as “moralis”. He further goes on to denote that it means a message or lesson that is learnt, through an outcome of a given event, or a narration (Butts, 2006). It majorly concerns or relates to what is considered right or wrong in society. Morals are passed from one individual to another is society through socialization which is one of the key functions of the various institutions that exists in society namely the family, religion, the school and many more. These institutions majorly use literature among the very many medium that exist to pass down morals from one generation to another.Going through the human history of literature, plenty of fictional stories, for example, the Goosebumps (Blaine, 2008). These stories served as an avenue of entertainment but also as a source of morals because they informed, improved, and instructed their readership or audience (Butts, 2006), for example, the novels by Dickens Charles, over the years have been a great source of morality. This is because Charles Dickens has extensively written on the various social and economic ills that face the society. Charles Dickens, in his book, David Copperfield talks extensively on the economic and social ills of the society (Dickens, 1899). In children’s literature, the concept of morality is widely depicted. For instance in storytelling, teachers are always concerned with the morality of the story. Literature has been widely used for purposes of explaining and imparting the concepts of morality in an individual (Butts, 2006). The concept of morality is more common in the literature of children. Literature books and stories are therefore a great source of moral teachings. Panic on the other hand is the sudden feeling of fear that is usually very great at particular instances that it replaces reasonable thinking with overwhelming agitation as well as anxiety (clarke, 2002). Panic might be experienced by an individual or get experienced by a group of people all at once at times referred to as panic of the mass or mass panic (Kenneth, 2006). Panic dates back, way back, and man over the years has deduced means of using panic to his advantage. It is believed that men used panic during the pre-historic period to hunt animals for food (Clarke, 2006). For example, pre-historic man would make weird sounds by blowing horns and would use this to direct herds to cliff edges and the animals would jump to their deaths or cripple themselves making it easy for man to get hold of them(Louse, 1986). However, humans are also victims to panic. Research has proved that panic can be infectious, in the sense that one person’s panic can easily be spread to others in a group and suddenly the whole group would be in panic (Kenneth, 2006). For example, A student in class expecting to seat for examination receives a rumor that the lecturer gave particular notes that he and a group of other students never got, hence, never read (Clarke, 2002). As soon as this student tells the others they also start to panic. It’s important to note that people have the ability to control their own panic as well as other peoples panic by using a series of disaster control skills as well as disciplined thinking (Blaine, 2008). Moral Panic A moral panic or moral panics are intense feelings usually expressed in a group of people or a population specifically about issues posing threat to social cohesion and order (Kenneth, 2006).They are majorly controversies or deep issues fueling arguments that could possibly create social tension. Furthermore, most of the time reaching agreement at such arguments is usually very difficult because the issue is normally a taboo (Blaine, 2008). The media, this includes print media, mass media, and radio, are usually the main players in the dissemination of strong displeasures also referred to as moral indignation (Kenneth, 2006). Even when not doing consciously, the media does. The simple act of reporting an act and facts about the act is enough to generate panic, concerns, and anxiety. History The term moral panic first appeared in the English language in the 1880s. Goode & Ben Yehuda (2009) explains that it was further propagated by a French doctor, who was impressed by the decision of the British troops to allow the migration of people from areas that were struck with cholera, and this is because of a bid to control infection. Goode & Ben Yehuda (2009 further denote that, the French doctor, used the term moral panic, to explain the effects of people, if they were not allowed to migrate from the region. Kenneth (2006) extensively talks about this concept of moral panic, and he explains that it emanates out of a desire to control a particular health hazard or risk that occurs within the society. Moral panic comes into existence after a person, condition, episode, or group of individuals becomes a potential threat to social interests and values. In his book, there exist two categories of individuals (Kenneth, 2006). The folk devils and the moral entrepreneur, the moral entrepreneurs are individuals, who initiate panic attacks immediately they sense a threat to the prevailing cultural and social values, whereas, the folk devils are individuals that threaten social and cultural values, generally social order (Clarke, 2002). Differences in Definition from a Sociological Perspective There are a variety of differences that emanates, when it comes to the definition of the term moral panic, by sociologists, journalists, and other professionals of communication (Blaine, 2008). According to Thompson Kenneth, British sociologists define moral panics as a result capitalism, viewing it as the crises of capitalism. However, American sociologists emphasize more on psychological factors (Kenneth, 2006). However, despite the differences, the all agree that moral panics have a set of features which include the following: Hostility There is a harsh environment created between the moral entrepreneurs and the folk devils,people on either side become rigid ordraw a line between them and us. Concern This is a belief that is created that folk devils behavior will create a negative effect to society Consensus This is where the moral entrepreneurs become vocal in support against the folk devils and the folk devils appear weak but still standing their ground. Dis-proportionality This is usually the action taken in to counter the behavior of the folk devils that is considered as a threat. Volatility It’s important to note that moral panics are usually very volatile. They tend to disappear as fast as they appeared, majorly due the influence of the media changing to other articles of news. Example of Media’s Contribution to Moral Panic An article on Sky news, one of the leading media stations in the United Kingdom had an article of news on the number of students caught with weapons in school. This was an article by Hirsch (2014) which was speaking about the number of students who were caught with guns in the premises of the school. In this article, more than 900 students were caught with weapons in their school premises (Hirsch, 2014). Of these figures, 80 were children, who were found within a primary school, and the youngest being eight years old, who was found with a knife. This is a very dangerous situation, mostly because students can use these weapons, for purposes of harming their fellow students (Kenneth, 2006). It is also an aspect of immorality, when a child is found with these types of weapons. This means that the child under consideration is militarized, and hence this is a case of concern (Blaine, 2008). Parents and the society may panic, because of the militarization of their students, or because of the high number of weapons which are smuggled in school, by students (Kenneth, 2006). This is an example of moral panic, mostly because parents are concerned with the welfare of their students. From the above article, it’s clear that the environment around the students i.e. the society is hostile, majority of them carry (Blaine, 2008). Though they attribute this to self-defense, one would not need a weapon to defend themselves against peaceful people. This means that the society is full of criminal activities and threatening one with a weapon is meant to assure you of your security and protection. Conclusion Moral panic is extreme fear felt by a population when it detects that someone, a group of people, or anything might be a threat to social order. From the above example, it’s clear that there is moral panic; this moral panic is the increase of the number of people with weapons within that particular society that might be in response to other factors such as increase in crime or poor police response, rape incidences, influence and many more. All this bad morals have gone in too deep to influence school children as little as 8yrs old, the media further builds this panic by publishing the above article showing its contribution to the above moral panic. Bibliography Blaine, F. (2008). From continuence to virtue: RecoveringGoodness, Character unityand character types for positive psychology and thinking. Theory and Psychology, 629-653. Butts, D. (2006). Childrens literature. Newyork: oxford university press. Clarke, L. (2002). Panic, myth or reality. Contexts magazine. Dickens, C. (1899). David Copperfield. London: T. Nelson Goode, E., & Ben Yehuda, N. (2009). Moral panics, the social construction of deviance. oxford: London. Hirsch, A. (2014, April 23). 1000 Pupils Caught with Weapons in Schools. Retrieved April 6, 2015, from http://news.sky.com/story/1247235/1000-pupils-caught-with-weapons-in-schools Kenneth, T. (2006). The history and the meaning of the concept:in critcher chas. critical readings, moral panics and the media. Newyork: open university press. Louse, B. (1986). Human ancestors: Changing views of their behaviour. Journal of Anthropological Archeology, 235-257. Read More