"Moral panic is an instance of public anxiety or alarm in response to a problem regarded as threatening the moral standards of society" - Google Define [04.08.2014]
"A condition, episode, person or group of people emerge to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests" - Stanley Cohen: Moral Panics and folk devils (page 9) [1972]
"The breaking of taboos - that which is deemed 'unacceptable' to society"
- Moral panic keep us in our place - keep us scared.
- Preconceived views now on things that happened (this is what fold devils are sometimes defined as, alternatively folk devils are described where things can trigger assumptions)
As example of a recent incident of moral panic is the 2011 London Riots. Stanley Cohen referred to Mods and Rockers as an example of moral panic. I quote:
"Mods and Rockers show a great form of moral panic as it enabled teen to have stereotypical labels pinned to themselves, which in turn allowed others to form an outside opinion to target and judge without making a calculated and informed decision. The aid of the medias portrayal of a seemingly innocent start to a petty fight between the two different groups of youths then allowed an incorrect opinion to be made from outsiders."
