Public warnings can provoke the panic they seek to avoid.

Evidence

This type of warning is equivalent to inhabitants of a flood area being told to evacuate when sirens sound; but while their evacuation would reduce the effects of the disaster, the Brighton inhabitants, sensitized to report signs of a ‘little Clacton’ would, in fact, create deviance in something like the original sense suggested in the transactional approach. This is the paradox intrinsic in moral panics. — Cohen, Stanley, Folk devils and moral panics, 617

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Cohen, Stanley, Folk devils and moral panics: the…, 617
• XREF: connects to: Police actions intensified fear among community members. — Lynley Hood, A City Possessed, 2237; Repeated media coverage can create a self-fulfilling atmosphere of fear. — Cohen, Stanley, Folk devils and moral panics: the…, 641; A moral panic sometimes passes over and is forgotten, except in folklore and collective memory. — Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The creation of the Mods and Rockers (+4 more)

Library Connections

• Repeated media coverage can create a self-fulfilling atmosphere of fear. #corroborates (0.90) — Cohen, Stanley, Folk devils and moral panics, 641
• Police actions intensified fear among community members. #exemplifies (0.85) — Lynley Hood, A City Possessed, 2237