Moral panics arise from cultural strains caused by social change and serve as mechanisms of social control reinforcing existing power dynamics.

Evidence

Moral Panic | Social Sciences and Humanities | Research Starters (EBSCO)

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: Folktales can escalate into moral panics in troubled times. — Lynley Hood, A City Possessed, 77; Loss of central authority leads to widespread societal chaos; Moral panics reflect deeper social tensions rather than real threats. — Moral Panic (+25 more)

Related

• Moral panics are characterized by an exaggerated, stylized folk devil perceived as threatening the social order, which attracts public hostility. (similarity 0.88)
• Moral panics reflect deeper social tensions rather than real threats. (similarity 0.87)
• Moral panics can produce long-lasting changes in society. (similarity 0.87)
• Moral panics direct outrage at a single easily identified target when the real problems have more complex roots. (similarity 0.87)
• Even if a specific moral panic does not seem to leave immediate traces of routinization, its very happening may leave memories and cognitive deposits. (similarity 0.86)
• Moral panics are often rooted in political struggles over values. (similarity 0.85)
• It was the first book to define the social theory of moral panic. (similarity 0.84)
• A moral panic is a widespread fear, most often an irrational one, that someone or something is a threat to the values, safety, and interests of a community or society at large. (similarity 0.83)
• Even without immediate traces of routinization, moral panics create cognitive deposits and memories that may make the next panic have longer-lasting effects; thus no moral panic should be considered trivial. (similarity 0.83)
• Even without immediate traces of routinization, moral panics create cognitive deposits and memories that may make the next panic have longer-lasting effects; thus no moral panic should be… (similarity 0.83)
• Sometimes the panic passes over and is forgotten, except in folklore and collective memory; at other times it has more serious and long-lasting repercussions. (similarity 0.83)
• Moral panic is a social phenomenon where a group is portrayed as a significant threat to societal values, resulting in heightened fear and the push for new legislation. (similarity 0.83)
• Comparative sociology of moral panic reveals cultural differences. (similarity 0.82)
• Moral-religious reformers can gain popular support by predicting calamities that then appear fulfilled (similarity 0.82)
• A moral panic happens when society reacts with exaggerated fear or anger to a group seen as a threat to moral values. (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Moral panics can produce long-lasting changes in society. #expands (0.70) — Lynley Hood, A City Possessed, 55