- The role of T.V. and computer game violence in causing moral panic?
T.V. and computer games have caused panic during the last few years after shootings involving children in America. The child responsible for killing many of his classmates had been playing violent games like Resident Evil and Grand Theft Auto. Grand Theft Auto was slated by the media because it encouraged players to take part in violent crimes, mostly murder, and for this they were given points. They claimed that this would make children think that these crimes were acceptable and good. However the media’s case was weakened by the fact the game was intended for use by adults only and gained an 18 certificate.
The film child’s play 3 was also blamed for causing children to behave in a violent way, although the company who owns it was hypocritical and responsible for showing it they held a burning in which many people were encouraged to attend. This film encouraged censorship to be tightened although it had little success.
The film Child’s Play 3 (among other violent videos) was blamed for encouraging the two murderers of Jamie Bulger a few years ago. This distracted attention away from the social and economic factors involved in the boys’ actions. Both were from broken homes and lived in poverty. Therefore social and economic circumstances which lay blame on the door of the parents were largely ignored in sight of a much easier scapegoat to blame.
- How do books and music affect moral panics?
Books and music have been heralded the main cause for Satanism and occult practices in recent years. Books from the fantasy genre have been said to warp the minds of children and encourage them to become part of the occult world of witchcraft. Harry Potter was slated by religious groups in America on arrival and since the release of the film it has also started in the U.K. The wizardry involved and the idea of the evil and dark magic has been said to encourage children into performing the dark rituals involved. The idea of Satanism in the books is wrong though because Satan is not part of the occult and is a Christian entity who was formally God’s favourite angel. This there for implicates that the bible is the most evil book in existence but is not true.
Music from heavy metal bands also has claims of Satanist rituals in the lyrics, Black Sabbath was repeatedly accused of Satanist concerts in America and seemed to incriminate themselves when Ozzy Osbourne bit off a bats head on stage (although it was accidental).
- How does social class affect moral panics?
Social Class has a major effect as most of the panics have more effect in higher-class families. Most of the small sub cultures such as Goths and Rockers etc are part of the lower class society and are uncommon in higher-class families. It would be seen as highly peculiar for a member of the royal family or a high-class child to become part of a sub culture. Also the panics are more commonly started in higher class families and generally filter down, this is due to stratified diffusion, lower class families are generally more accepting as they need not acquire an image in the way the upper-classes do. It is also true that upper-class families are more likely to discourage television and computer games as they often partake in more varied activities outside the home whereas lower-class families build up home entertainment systems and spend most of their time at home watching television and playing violent games. It is also possibly true that working class peope play fantasy games and read fantasy books where high-class people often read more serious books. Due to this upper-class families lose out less when there is a ban or less chance of acquiring these and therefore have much less need to protect their right to watch, play or read these things.
- What effect does the media have on them?
The media is renowned for being the main cause of moral panic, they often write articles on what small groups and personal views on the subjects such as computer games which is often the cause of parents panicking for their children’s safety. However it is general media such as T.V. news and newspapers causing the panic as a Magazine written to an audience of computer gamers would not try to stop people buying computer games, also a magazine such as Kerrang! Would not tell people that metal nu-metal and other rock sections were harmful; as they earn a living from and enjoy these past times. Mainstream media was responsible for the slating of Grand Theft Auto when released; they focused attention on the criminal activities in which the game requires you to partake in but gave no mention to the actual unrealistic stupidity that it is based around. The cartoon style graphics and the 18 certificate it received were not enough to calm down the media attention involved although upon the new release of Grand Theft Auto 3, featuring realistic graphics and is far worse by comparison, there was no media panic only a flood of reviews hailing it game of the year.
It is also evident that media views are fickle as Fox showed the T.V. premier of the film Child’s Play 3, the owner of the company also owns The Sun tabloid newspaper, this newspaper soon went on to perform a public burning of the video.
- What effect does it have on the people it is aimed at?
Moral panics are basically aimed at anyone who could be affected by the topic that they are about, the music side often concerns parents of teenagers who are likely to listen to the music. Moral panic caused many parents to ban Eminem CDs from their house which if listened to by many would have no effect, constant media attention caused a massive uproar in the houses of many until the media attention ceased.
In America religious groups deemed Harry Potter Satanic and many parents would not allow their children to read the books as they were led to believe the books could brainwash the children into performing Satanic rituals and joining religious cults. This subsided and returned with the film’s release but has yet again subsided.
- Stan Cohen’s Folkdevils and Moral Panic.
Stan Cohen stated that during moral panic a group is defined as a threat to society and society’s values, this group is then stereotyped by the media to create interest from the public. Stan Cohen reported on scuffles between mods and rockers and shows headlines reported by the media.
- Day of terror by scooter groups. – Telegraph.
- Youngsters beat up town – 97 leather jacket arrests. –Express.
- Wild ones invade seaside. – Mirror.
These were vastly exaggerated in terms of:
- Number of people involved.
- Number involved in violence.
- Effects of damage and violence.
Stan Cohen says that the media distort what was actually happening in Clacton to create a false image of the youngsters. This amplification in the media actually caused more youngsters to get involved in fighting, this in turn led to public out cry and evolved into moral panic. When people read and saw the media coverage and version of events they saw a threat to society and in turn this led to more arrests by the police. Cohen stated that the media can amplify deviance and use small young easily targeted groups as scapegoats to create a common enemy for society. These young people were powerless and easily targeted and identified group to blame. These groups then take on the role of the witches in medieval Europe.
The media has a great impact in the creation of moral panics. They are generally the cause as they have the ability to create a single minority group as the main cause of all societies ills. They do this to increase profit as large stories about things that threaten our culture and values will sell more newspapers or get better ratings.
Through the creation of moral panic a media group can influence society and force the government to change policies or laws. If they make the public think that there is a serious problem in society they can push the government into submitting to the public. Another issue in the media is the bias of the media, newspapers are supportive of right or left wing parties so the times (a Conservative newspaper) could try to get people to put an end to single parent benefits as they promote self help and private companies etc.
The media influences the public by emphasising deviance and exaggerating to create a more interesting story. This creates a common enemy in the public eye and causes people to unite in ridding society of this. The government has to respond to this as they are elected and if they do nothing they will have a bad public opinion, by this the media can influence society.
- The behaviour (hypodermic syringe) model.
The first attempts to explain the influences of media were based on the approach that if it was true that the media influence our behaviour, then watching violent or sexually stimulating films would also alter a person’s behaviour.
Research.
In the 1960s, Bandura showed a film of children being violent to dolls to another group of children, who were then given the dolls themselves. He found the children tended to imitate the violence on screen.
Criticism.
The idea that people watch a television programme or film, and are so influenced by it that they abandon their normal behaviour and go out and attack people, seems too naïve. It treats people as if they had no minds or views of their own.
The model previously described has been replaced by a greater understanding that people choose what programmes they wish to watch and which newspapers they buy. Instead of being passive, the audience in this approach is seen as actively interpreting the information given. In order for something to influence our behaviour we must first have a receptive attitude towards it. An attitude is a firmly held belief that causes a person to respond in a particular way to a stimulus or event. Attitudes are necessary in order for us to make sense of our world. They form a code which allows us to respond with consistency to similar types of situation. The mass media can reinforce attitudes already held, but it is difficult to change attitudes which already exist. This is because people tend to select what information they want to read or hear. Thus:
- People select the type of newspaper they wish to read, usually one that confirms their political attitudes;
- People view events through their particular bias and select the elements of the fact that reinforce their existing attitudes;
- People remember information that confirms their opinions and forget the rest.
The effect of the information upon our attitudes is also influenced by (i) the origins of the information: a prestigious source is more likely to be believed than an unknown on; (ii) the situation in which the information is received - whether it fits in and helps to make sense of the situation in which the audience find themselves.
Research.
David Morley, in The Nationwide Audience, studied the responses of different groups of people to a popular BBC 6 o’clock ‘magazine’ show that appeared in the 1970s. He found that the different groups approached the material presented in the programme in different ways, reflecting the particular background and values they held. For instance, bank managers saw the programme’s treatment of the 1977 budget in the very different light from a group of shop stewards.
This approach derives from the audience selection approach, but sees the influence of the media as being more powerful, over a long time, in that they create a culture or climate of thought, within which people hold opinions. In other words, the media define the range of acceptable opinions on any matter. The first two approaches, then, stress that the media have an influence after a short time. The third approach stresses less the direct effect, rather the creation of a climate of opinion.
- Example of media creating deviance.
Headline- Red Cross: U.S. Broke Geneva Conventions.
This article relates to the Red Cross saying that the USA broke the Geneva convention when they released photographs of Taliban and al-Qa'ida fighters held at Guantanamo Bay. Through this they make the USA seem inhumane and wrong even though the people in custody have committed massive atrocities by working for the Taliban and under the aid of Osama Bin Laden. The treatment has been overseen by the Geneva Convention and has been given the all clear. This report talks of the prisoners as if they are normal prisoners of war and not as terrorists even though they have been found to be in conjunction with Bin laden, the man responsible for the September 11th crisis in New York. This report makes the public feel that the USA is being cruel and unfair on these prisoners even but also causes controversy as many will think they deserve what they get while others will find there treatment shocking.
The common enemies (folkdevils) are usually from lower working class groups. The panic starts in when media pick up on these groups and their act but the panics can also start if a higher-class person who is in the media takes part in an illegal or anti-social act. Prince Harry was subject to the media attention after he was found smoking cannabis and drinking alcohol. This was dealt with differently than if it was any other person and caused panic as people then thought that every child in the country was taking illegal drugs and drinking before they are eighteen.
Most people who are part of sub groups such as ‘Goths’ are from working class to middle class as it would not be socially acceptable for an upper class child to take part in this sort of activity as it would make them seem common. The media exploits upper class people (especially the royal family) and report on all the problems that they have. The media takes all the smallest things they do, such as have piercings, whereas most people do not get any media attention. Moral panics can be started through media attention on upper-class people as children may try to imitate them if they are celebrities causing parents to panic about the welfare of their children.
- Findings from secondary data.
From this I have found that the media is a major part in creating moral panics. The Sun newspaper (a popular tabloid) created panic over Child’s Play 3 video by holding a burning. Many parents attended which also confirms that it is adults that are part of the panic not the children (probably due to a smaller exposure to media).
It appears that moral panics repeat themselves, music has been part of moral panics for decades from Black Sabbath in the 1970s to Marilyn Manson (Brian Warner) today. Again it seems that it is the parents who are affected by this. The implication of books also has lasted from comic books in the 1950s to Harry Potter today. It also appears certain subjects are linked such as Harry Potter and Dungeons and Dragons as they are both fantasy and panics surround the idea of black magic and demons in the content of these.
It appears that the secondary data confirms my hypothesis that moral are aimed at a certain group and become more acceptable after some time (for example comic books are now perfectly acceptable). It also appears the older generation panic more as they are usually blamed or seen as the victims.
My secondary data was taken from books and the Internet. The Internet sources were studies from other sociologist and I have taken information from the studies they did. I chose these as they were professional studies and held large quantities of information from which I could extract any useful information.
To research moral panics I used two methods to obtain both quantitative and qualitative information. I used a questionnaire for a large amount of data that I could process into numerical data to see what a large amount of people generally thought about Moral Panics. I also divided this data into two parts, older and younger people, to compare the views of both age groups to see what similarities and differences I can find. Part of my hypothesis was that many older people will be more concerned on these subjects than the younger generation, as they will have younger relatives or children.
I also interviewed two people in each age group to get a smaller amount of more detailed data, this data could not be turned into numerical data but provides more information on and individuals view on the subjects. From this I could derive what subjects concerned the individual most. From this I could also elaborate on the subjects and see how they are linked and how the media influences them.
By using these two methods together I will be able to find out what many people think and how they think they are affected by the media and to what extent. I will also be able to differentiate between groups of people and individuals views and how age has an effect.
In my questionnaire I have asked the following questions:
This is the Revised Version of my questionnaire. This version is improved as many people who answered the pilot thought the way the questions were worded was too sophisticated for the average fifteen-year-old to answer. Many of the people who answered the pilot also thought there were too many open questions and they favoured closed, tick-box, questions. I then changed questions two and twelve to incorporate tick boxes. I also put question one in so I could differentiate between male and female to compare views. I changed most questions so that they were closed but asked the person to further elaborate on the subject so I could get more detailed information. The wording on the questions has been simplified so that everyone can understand it.
In my sample questionnaire I handed out twenty papers to children aged fourteen to fifteen in my revised version I handed out fifty (25 to under 16s and 25 to over 16s). My revised version then covered a wider variety of people and allowed me to compare different age categories.
- Pros and cons of questionnaires
My interviews were arranged with people of both age groups (one adult, one child). I used an open method of interviewing to gain as much detailed information as possible. The interviews were informally done to attempt to gain honest answers from the people I interviewed. There are disadvantages of using this method though as the data collected is only in small amounts it is greatly detailed.
- Pros and Cons of Questionnaires.
From my questionnaires I have gained results from two ages groups (under 16s and over 16s).
From this age group I have found the following-
1. 28% of the people asked state that they do not read or watch any form of factual media.
2. The 72% that do read magazines that promotes topics concerned with moral panic (such as computer game magazines) or read tabloid newspapers that create moral panics. None of them read broadsheets. This shows people are exposed to media influenced.
3. Only 12% of the people asked knew what percentage of the UK population are Black or Asian and answers were as high as 75%. This shows the success in the media in stirring up panic as they have convinced most people that far more than 6% of the UK population are black/Asian.
4. 80% of people asked thought there is a problem with the UKs current standing on immigration. This is a media issue and is spawned from the media.
5. 12% of people asked thought that computer games can cause problems; they stated problems such as aggression, eyestrain, and headache. This contradicts my hypothesis suggesting that the panic has worn of or they will not accept it as serious.
6. 60% of the people asked thought there were health risks from mobile telephone usage and from the masts also. Again this is a recent panic and people are still concerned.
7. 32% of people asked thought that single-parent benefits are harmful to society. People didn’t seem concerned on this, they may be parts of single parent families or this might have become more acceptable recently.
8. 72% of people asked think that the media affects their views on these subjects. This shows that people are aware that the media influences them.
9. When asked what problems they thought there were in society they responded,
Not legalising drugs- 1 vote = 4%
Drug and alcohol abuse- 21 votes = 84%
Racism and discrimination- 13 votes. = 52%
Crime- 3 votes = 12%
This shows the media is setting the agenda as tobacco causes more harm than all of these but gets little coverage because it has become socially acceptable and even fashionable.
From this age group I have found -
1. 96% of the people asked have exposure to factual media. The media they are exposed to varies from women’s magazines (E.g. Chat magazine) to tabloids and broadsheets (The Times, The Sun) and regional, national, and international television news reports.
2. 20% of the people asked knew what percentage of the population are black or Asian, although there were more people in this age group giving answers as high as 80%.
3. 84% of the people asked said they thought that the UK currently has a problem with its immigration laws and the amount of immigrants allowed to enter the country.
4. 52% said they thought that computer games could cause problems to people who play; they also stereotyped computer game players as children saying problems like 'No homework' even though a large proportion of gamers are over 21. There is more of a problem in this age group as I expected in my hypothesis.
5. 56% of the people asked said they thought there are possible health risks from mobile telephones and the masts.
6. 48% of people asked said they thought that single parents claiming benefits were harmful to society.
7. 80% of the people asked said that they thought the media did influence their views on the subjects they were asked about.
8. When asked what they thought the main problems in society are they responded with-
Drugs and alcohol abuse- 18 votes = 72%
Race issues and discrimination- 18 votes = 72%
Crime- 10 votes = 40%
Crime was more of a concern here.
It occurred to me whilst handing out these questionnaire that the under 16s group had a lesser knowledge of the implications of these subjects and cared less about what effects they may have. This meant whilst answering the questionnaires they seemed to concentrate more on the subjects that did not affect them (E.g. race issues). Many had no problem with mobile telephones or computer games, probably because they take an interest in these.
Adults had a more open view and seemed to answer more honestly to there own opinions. Their answers showed that media attention on subjects had affected their opinions even though some felt they hadn't been affected. It was visible that they'd been affected as on many subjects their views contradicted scientific evidence on the subjects in question and many associated subjects such as computer games to children whereas many gamers are adults.
Issues on drugs, race, and crime seem to affect both age groups and both stated them as the main problems in society. However it seems that on average more adults have a lesser knowledge of the current situation surrounding immigration, more adults gave answers as high as 80% when asked what percentage of the population are black or Asian.
Q. To what extent are you exposed to media influence?
A. I watch a lot of news on TV when my parents watch it and also read magazines to do with rock music and computer games. Also I will occasionally read the local newspaper.
Q. Does media coverage on subjects such as computer games concern you?
A. No because I have been playing them since I was about five and lead a normal social life and am not aggressive towards other. I also do not suffer from any medical conditions associated with it such as diabetes and obesity and have got perfects vision.
Q. What about the reports into rock musicians such as Marilyn Manson (Brian Warner)?
They don't bother me because although his and some other rock music focuses on subjects such as violence and death I think you have to be in a bad state of mind first before it can lead to things such as suicide or drug abuse. Mostly the people who commit suicide are depressed before they start to listen to it and depression is why they listen to it.
Q. Do you think the media exaggerates on these sorts of subjects?
A. Yes, they try to make them seem worse than they are and take the truth and bend it and word it differently to make it seem worse than it really is.
Q. What about the issues surrounding drugs and alcohol?
A. Well it’s easy to be pressured into drugs if you're hanging around with that sort of crowd. Peer pressure is often exerted but many people don't need it. Also it is more common for parents to let children have a small drink every now and again as it stops them feeling the need to run of and start heavy drinking. However many of the children today look older than they are and can buy alcohol themselves.
Q. What do you think about the current state of immigration?
A. Well it’s mainly the illegal immigrants who cause problems, they come here because we are soft with them and other countries don't treat them like we do. The immigrants who have had permission to come and work in our country aren’t as bad. The illegal immigrants say they have been discriminated against in their own countries but refuse to go to places like France and all try to come to the UK for an easy ride.
Q. What about benefits for people who are single parents and can't work?
Well its the same there, some of them only go on benefits because it suits them, they could work but the income wouldn't be the same as if they scrounge of the system. There are people who are single parents who can't afford to work because they have no qualifications and wouldn't earn enough o support themselves and a child/children. These aren’t as bad but whilst on benefits they should be given training so that they can begin work that they can support their family on.
Q. Do you think media coverage affects your views on these subjects?
Yes, the amount of coverage and how they describe these problems or people makes a difference to people views. The biggest effect is on parent, as they more often believe that these things could have a negative impact on their children. This then leads to a lot of parent banning their children from certain activities. It's like with computer games, many parents get concerned by the amount they play thinking it could have a negative effect on their children even though they may have never shown any signs of negative effects.
- Second under 16 interview.
Q. To what extent are you exposed to the media?
I don’t read any newspapers or watch any T.V. news.
Q. What do you think are the worst problems in society then?
Crime and drugs are the worst as they are the most common.
Q. Do you think the media affects peoples’ views?
Yes because they make people think that computer game and mobile phones are as bad as drugs and crime where if you don’t have exposure it doesn’t.
Q. So you don’t think computer games are a problem?
No because I’ve been playing them for years and they haven’t affected me.
Q. What about racism and immigration.
That’s not a real problem, immigrants just use racism as a way of getting what they want. They only want to be British when it suits them.
Q. Do you think the media creates panic surrounding this issue?
The media looks at it from a biased view. They only see the immigrants being abused where it also works the other way around.
Q. When you say drugs are a problem what do you mean?
All sorts of drug abuse from heroin to alcohol as they break up families and create more crime. This makes more problems in society.
From this, a child’s point of view, it shows that the subjects which they are part of they know more about than the media any way. Subjects such as rock music seem to have the truth stretched or worded to make the problem sound worse. Also computer games seem to be a common part of society and many gamers are unaffected, it seems the minority who are affected are seen to be a majority.
They have a good understanding on issues such as race and benefits and have idealistic solutions to offer. They seem to understand what problems there are with the system and do not just offer opinionated answers. They do not seem to have been greatly influenced by the media although there could be influence on subjects like computer games and music from the promotional magazines they read on these subjects.
They seem aware of how the media may affect different people differently, such as how parents normally get the most concerned. They seem to be biased though and defend the subjects they enjoy such as music and computer games.
Drug abuse seems to be a main concern not because they are damaging themselves but because of what it results in. It also affects how they view the causes of crime as they believe drugs cause crime. This is a factor covered in the media.
They seem to be unaffected by the media due to lack of exposure. Greater exposure may cause more concern on these subjects. They seem to know the media uses bias to create a more interesting story especially when talking about racism because they do not talk about how white people are abused by black/Asian people.
Q. What media are you exposed to?
I read newspapers such as the sentinel, the mirror and news of the worlds and watch TV news on BBC and ITV.
Q. Do you have children?
Yes I have two children age 15 and 13.
Q. Do you ever see media coverage on things that your children take an interest in?
Yes, one of my children enjoys computer games and I have seen major coverage on this subject. The media seems to try and convince you that they damage your kids.
Q. Does this concern you?
No because it was the same when I was a child, in the past I listened to heavy metal music and there used to be reports that if you played Black Sabbath backwards they were performing satanic rituals. It was a load of rubbish then so I just assume it's the same now.
Q. Are there any subjects what concern you?
Mobile phones seem to be the major worry; they have a lot of scientific evidence against them. Although I still prefer my children to carry them in case of emergency and I still use mine.
Q. Do you think that immigration is a problem at the moment?
No not really. Only 5% of the population are black and a lot of them were born here anyway. The reason people think there are so many of them are because they live in areas where there are high concentrations of them. Also they go everywhere with each other and don't mix with white people much so there seems to be more than there actually is.
Q. Do you think media coverage can affect people’s views?
Not really, if they had concerns originally or there is scientific backing on the subject it might but without them factors it isn't very effective to just write a story.
- Second interview with over 16.
Q. What exposure do you have towards the media.
Not much I only read the local newspaper.
Q. What issues concern you.
Immigration, drugs and crime. These are linked as when they come over here they smuggle drugs and start robbing houses for more money.
Q. Do you think the media affects your views?
Yes because you see stories on how all these things happen in society.
Q. Do you think they use bias to create a more interesting story?
Yes because they also make us seem to be racists even though it works two ways, they also make younger people look like criminals more than older people.
Q. What subjects does the media seem to cover most?
They seem to use childrens’ interests as a way of causing panic because parent always fear for their children’s safety. They have done this for years using music T.V. and books.
Q. Do these panics worry you?
Not really because they use them to frequently although I think computer games can lead to negative side affects like obesity.
The person who I interviewed does not seem to be greatly affected by media coverage and common moral panics. They seem to need evidence to make them concerned and have seen empty moral panics from their childhoods’.
It seems although they read tabloids the stories creating moral panics have had little effect on them. This seems most prominent on the subject of immigration, as many people would strongly disagree with his views.
They seem to be more concerned on the issues of race and computer games and recognise media bias towards certain groups. They also notice that parents are targeted by these panics as they are a wary audience who are easy to influence.
- Findings From Primary Data.
My primary data confirms my hypothesis that the older generation is more concerned about the subjects in moral panics. It also confirms that certain panics lose their affect after time. The secondary data I collected also coincides with this primary data showing as they both show that people do become affected by media coverage of certain subjects.
The primary data confirms my hypothesis that moral panics are caused and effected by the media as all the panics that people mentioned have or have had extensive media coverage. This shows that when they see the stories and see how it affecting others they themselves become influenced by the media.
It also confirms my belief that the older generation is affected more as they panic on subjects such as computer games whereas children don’t. They also seem more concerned about issues where they believe children have been negatively affected.
After carrying out my research into this subject I have discovered some general ideas into what effects media has on moral panic and who they affect. Also using other studies carried out, which I found in abundance, I have had the ability to compare my own study with other peoples.
It appears that the media tends to grab the attention of certain groups, such as parents, working class areas. Many of the subjects which appear are to do with children’s activities (computer games and music) and are aimed at creating a sense of panic with parents, the race issue is more likely to affect any one living in a working class area as that is where most illegal immigrants are place because it's cheaper to put them there.
Another point is people have biases; children are more likely to try and defend issues such as computer games because they enjoy playing them. Adults are less likely to do this although may defend some subjects because they are in favour of them. It is unlikely a child would pay much attention to subjects like single parent benefits unless they are living off them because it would not affect them. Both age categories were concerned about race and immigration, social class and media hype are both factors in this.
From the questionnaires I discovered that children know less on these subjects as they watch less TV news, tabloids and broadsheets in favour of magazines. Adults will have had a greater exposure to moral panics through tabloids (where most are created). This was reflected from the questionnaires as only very common panics such as drugs and racism were featured in the children’s questionnaires. The adults however stated problems such as unemployment, ignorance, and intolerance of others.
Some adults ignore the moral panics as they have seen them from there own childhood based around music and comic books and know that they are generally based around a minority’s deviance. A good example of this is the Judas Priest lawsuit trial when a nation was against them because a fan of theirs committed suicide and another fan attempted suicide. They were said to promote suicide and should be banned because of the actions of a minority group.
From the interviews it shows bias is a strong feature in moral panics as neither of the people interviewed would accept moral panics as right and defended the subjects they were asked about. The bias also works the other way around where people take part in moral panics and will not accept the people who try to defend the music or computer games etc.
Older panics such as computer games and music do not seem to have impact on modern society, factors such as religion seem to mainly affect music especially around the violence and satanic lyrics as they see them as morally wrong.
I have found moral panics are based on a combination of facts and rumours, people know that it is possible for computer games to lead to lack of exercise but this is only the case if the person plays them for large quantities of time. They also stated problems such as behaviour disorders that have not been proven yet, they however did not state new evidence that playing games can boost intelligence.
Acts of violence in T.V. and computer games and in other places affects moral panics. People do not want young audiences to witness these acts although they would allow them to watch news programme which often contain disturbing scenes of real brutality that could be considered far worse. It appears the idea of killing being good in games makes adults think that the nations youth will believe this to be true on all cases. This is still the case even though it is illegal for children to play games of a violent nature as they have age restrictions on them.
Books, although being constantly promoted, are often seen as bad for children by parents. They cause panics when they have certain issues in them. Fantasy stories are often seen as bad by religious communities as they contain rituals and demons which can be connected with Satanism. Music also has this problem although in modern society is used as a selling tactic. Marilyn Manson (Brian Warner) is a self proclaimed Satan worshipper (despite being a Christian most of his life) in an attempt to cause panic so that children will buy his music. The media does create panic around his music and his tactics work.
Social class has effect, as it is generally working class people who panic as middle class families have less desire to rebel and have an easier time in life. The times when middle classes cause panic is in cases like when Prince Harry was caught smoking cannabis and people then believed most of the nations youth were also taking illegal substances.
I have found the media’s effect is to cause moral panics in the first place. They create them as a means to sell newspapers when there is no main story to follow at the time, they then drop the subject when a better story presents itself or people stop panicking.
The people affected by the panics usually start a public outcry and call for a stop of the ‘problem’. They often hold protests or video burnings or some other way of provoking media protest. This then creates panic with more people until it reaches a full nation-wide panic.
My research from textbooks showed how the media has affect only on certain groups, people with certain attitudes to certain things and that the affects take a long time to work properly. This shows that moral panics are not randomised acts of fear but are used to confirm ever present fears on certain subjects.
My studies have proven my theory that media affects peoples views. It has also shown that older people care more than younger people on these subjects. This makes my study a success as I have discovered that it is generally specific groups who are affected by moral panic.
I found large quantities of secondary data. It was valuable information but it was based around very similar products. It may also have been biased as some of the researchers took personal interest in the subjects they were researching. Another problem is that the studies are quite old and some of the panics have lost their effect, some were of subjects that took place decades ago and the ideas may be completely different today.
The sample size for my questionnaires would have been better if it was far larger, but due to limitations on time and resources this was not possible. A larger amount of questionnaires would have allowed me to gain more conclusive results and better study the affects of moral panics.
The interviews have disadvantages such as interviewer and interviewee bias. They also consumed a large quantity of my time limit and I could only get the views of a minority through them. It would have been beneficial to find a story starting a moral panic and follow it through until it was dropped, but again due to time limitations this was not possible. An interview with a media executive would have also been beneficial but again time limitations were too tight for me to arrange and carry out this.
The questions I asked in my questionnaires could have done with more thought. In an attempt to create a questionnaire suitable for both adults and children I found it was too difficult for the children to answer and to vague and simple for the adults to give conclusive answers. If I repeated this study I would create separate questionnaires for both to get the most conclusive answers possible.
If I did this study again I would try to get a larger sample from the questionnaires and construct separate questionnaires for adults and children to increase valid responses. I would also try to differentiate between male and female which was my original intent but found time too constricting for this to be possible. I would interview someone from the media as well as people affected by it to see another point of view. I would also give questionnaires to a more varied audience of people of different class, race etc. This would give me a more representative view of people’s opinions. I would also find more areas of study in my secondary chapter and look at more moral panics.
My textbook research was useful as it provided information into theories of who moral panics affect and why they affect them. It shows how moral panics are aimed at certain people and are not random.
-Bibliography
- Past Studies.
- Colin’s Sociology for GCSE by Wilson and Kidd.
- Sociology Alive Third Edition by Stephen Moore
- Sociology Alive Second Edition by Stephen Moore.
- The Cultural Study of Games: More Than Just Games by Matthew Southern.
- Media Effects Lecture 3: The Media Effects Controversy by Guy Cumberbatch.
- Computer Gamers Have Under Developed Brains by Linda Harrison.
- Magazines about subjects that cause moral panic
- Official Playstation 2 magazine Future Publishing.
- Kerrang! Music magazine.
- Newspapers and other media.
- The Evening Sentinel.
- The Sun.
- News of the world.
- ITV news.
- BBC news.