These moral panics and folk devils are created and exacerbated by ‘moral crusaders ‘, the media is most likely the biggest agency that does this. Media reports often greatly exaggerate certain and specific areas of crime or deviance that are aimed to be a moral panic, and to victimize certain groups as folk devils. It reports on, for example, the alleged rising number of knife related crimes, and how a high percentage of youths in a neighbourhood near you are carrying a knife, even if this is a fallacy. This increase in media attention brings about a what is called a deviancy amplification spiral .This consists of a combination of contributing factors, the increased media attention brings about a heightened sense of public fear, resulting in a real increase in crime, either from the folk devils in question or from copycats, which in turn brings about a police reaction, creating a vicious circle of self-fulfilling prophecies, and the fear and media attention only increases the situation, this spiral also results in these panics lasting a lot longer than perhaps they should.
The media uses the weapon of fear to stimulate moral panics, they give the view that firstly these deviant groups offer a threat to the norms, values and attitudes of the majority of society, and that a change will be brought about to people’s lives as these cannot be controlled. The media also gives credence to the view that moral standards are declining, and by exaggerating the crime paints the portrait of a country falling into a downward spiral. A conservative media article also cited how the social agencies of control such as the church and the family, are losing power, thus adding to the unravelling of the moral fabric of society, supposedly. A chief constable in of Merseyside said in The Times (1978) “The freedom and way of life we have been accustomed to enjoy for so long will vanish… “
It causes a lot of victimization, especially to some working class males. They may already feel alienated from normal society because of their low status at work and school, and they turn to deviance or crime, through criminal subculture and gangs, in an act of rebellion against society. Similarly from a Marxist point of view this alienation from society, along with selective and seemingly unfair prosection figures, is a rebellion against the unfair capitalist society, and is only an attempt to gain power from a society which gives them a master status of low rank citizen.
The exaggerated stories reported by the media are for their own benefit, to increase viewing ratings and newspaper sale charts, but they result in giving an unbalanced and extremely negative view of the current situation which is often just not applicable to real life.
