The Witch Trials exemplify how a minority group can be identified as folk devils to generate fear and social control.

Evidence

17 Famous Moral Panic Examples (2026) (Helpful Professor)

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; Folk devils are depicted with contradictory stereotypes that shape public perception. — Cohen, Stanley, Folk devils and moral panics: the…, 261; The creation of folk devils can kickstart a moral panic, with violent youth subcultures as the folk devils. — Folk Devils and Moral Panics (Cohen 1972) (+1 more)

The creation of folk devils can kickstart a moral panic, with violent youth subcultures as the folk devils. (similarity 0.92)
In his study, the folk devils were the violent youth subcultures, ‘mods and rockers’. The creation of folk devils can kickstart a moral panic. (similarity 0.89)
Fuelling moral panics and creating folk devils are blunt public health tools with potential for consequences that bludgeon the vulnerable. (similarity 0.83)
Folk devils are depicted with contradictory stereotypes that shape public perception. (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)
Moral panics reflect deeper social tensions rather than real threats. (similarity 0.79)
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 0.79)