In his study, the folk devils were the violent youth subcultures, ‘mods and rockers’. The creation of folk devils can kickstart a moral panic.

Evidence

Folk Devils and Moral Panics (Cohen 1972) (tutor2u)

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: The Lawrence case lacked essential elements for a moral panic. — Cohen, Stanley, Folk devils and moral panics: the…, 40; The Witch Trials exemplify how a minority group can be identified as folk devils to generate fear and social control. — 17 Famous Moral Panic Examples (2026); Folk devils are depicted with contradictory stereotypes that shape public perception. — Cohen, Stanley, Folk devils and moral panics: the…, 261 (+7 more)

Related

• The creation of folk devils can kickstart a moral panic, with violent youth subcultures as the folk devils. (similarity 0.96)
• The Witch Trials exemplify how a minority group can be identified as folk devils to generate fear and social control. (similarity 0.89)
• Fuelling moral panics and creating folk devils are blunt public health tools with potential for consequences that bludgeon the vulnerable. (similarity 0.86)
• The Mods and Rockers panic reflected wider societal anxieties about youth, technology, and moral decline rather than the actual scale of antisocial behaviour. (similarity 0.85)
• Moral panics reflect deeper social tensions rather than real threats. (similarity 0.85)
• Sociologists have shown that young people are often rendered societal ‘folk devils’—portrayed as rejecting traditional values, and thus as a threat to the social order. (similarity 0.85)
• The term was coined by Stanley Cohen in his 1973 book Folk Devils and Moral Panics. (similarity 0.84)
• Folk devils are depicted with contradictory stereotypes that shape public perception. (similarity 0.82)
• Youth deviant groups create cultural friction during social change. (similarity 0.82)
• Folk Devils and Moral Panics is a 1972 sociology book by Stanley Cohen — the first book to define the social concept. (similarity 0.82)
• Cohen documented moral panics as sudden threats or disorders involving mass hysteria, delusion, and panic. (similarity 0.81)
• A moral panic sometimes passes over and is forgotten, except in folklore and collective memory. (similarity 0.81)
• The concept of a permanent moral panic contradicts its definition. (similarity 0.81)
• Moral panics are characterized by an exaggerated, stylized folk devil perceived as threatening the social order, which attracts public hostility. (similarity 0.80)
• It was the first book to define the social theory of moral panic. (similarity 0.79)