The Satanic panic was a moral panic of over 12,000 unsubstantiated cases of Satanic ritual abuse, starting in the 1980s and persisting today.

Evidence

Satanic panic — Wikipedia (Wikipedia)

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; Moral panic is a widespread fear that some evil person or thing threatens the values of a community, first theorized by Stanley Cohen in 1972. — Moral panic — Wikipedia; 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. — A Sociological Understanding of Moral Panic (+9 more)

Related

• Moral panic is a widespread fear that some evil person or thing threatens the values of a community, first theorized by Stanley Cohen in 1972. (similarity 0.91)
• Cohen (1972, p. 9) defined moral panic as a condition where a group emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests, presented in a stylized way by mass media. (similarity 0.89)
• Cohen documented moral panics as sudden threats or disorders involving mass hysteria, delusion, and panic. (similarity 0.87)
• A moral panic happens when society reacts with exaggerated fear or anger to a group seen as a threat to moral values. (similarity 0.86)
• 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 0.86)
• 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 0.86)
• A moral panic is characterized by themes of novelty, sudden explosive growth, and menace. (similarity 0.84)
• Fears of satanic worship spread across the United States in the 1980s, fueled by public accusations against heavy metal albums, Dungeons & Dragons, and day care workers. (similarity 0.82)
• Moral panics are characterized by an exaggerated, stylized folk devil perceived as threatening the social order, which attracts public hostility. (similarity 0.81)
• The concept of a permanent moral panic contradicts its definition. (similarity 0.81)
• QAnon has revived fears from the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, borrowing from its playbook and deploying similar folk devils. (similarity 0.80)
• Denial about moral panics occurs in multiple forms. (similarity 0.79)
• Moral panics are often rooted in political struggles over values. (similarity 0.79)
• 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 0.79)
• The term was coined by Stanley Cohen in his 1973 book Folk Devils and Moral Panics. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Denial about moral panics occurs in multiple forms. #expands (0.60) — Cohen, Stanley, Folk devils and moral panics, 125