Once the activity is reported, it becomes an “available option” for others of a similar disposition to immitate. As the frequency of its occurrence (actual or percieved) increases, so does the coverage and depth of reporting. The activities of the press, in this respect, are a prime example. This is especially so where exaggeration and sensationalised reporting are used.
Moral panic is a natural by product of the deviancy amplification spiral. Where all instances of a given activity are reported, the true level of it will be magnified. The public become alarmed, pressure mounts for official action, knee-jerk legislation may result and everything gets out of proportion.
Moral Panic is essentially irrational. It is not the product of sound judgement and sober deliberation. Nostalgia for a past “Golden Era” of law and order and moral rectitude fuels moral panic. The better the perceived past, the worse the apparent present.
The media are widely regarded, by Social Scientists such as Cohen, as provocative in the way they handle crime as news. They cultivate and sustain moral panic by actively fuelling society’s fascination with crime and conjure a false impression of its prevalence. People’s fear of becoming a victim of crime may end up wholly disproportionate to the likelihood.
The media are a key part of the deviancy amplification spiral as they frequently kick-start the process with selective reporting and emphasis on particular categories of crime.
An example of moral panic produced by the deviancy amplification spiral would be the keeping of “attack dogs”. These animals, exemplified by the Rotweiller, were branded “devil dogs” by the press. Every possible instance of people being bitten or smaller dogs being savaged was guaranteed to make the headlines. Suddenly, the ownership of Rotweillers boomed. The more they and their owners were vilified in the media, the more certain sections of the public aspired to own them. Swiftly, a law was passed that this kind of dog was to be muzzled in public places.
A second example of the deviancy amplification spiral in operation is “glue sniffing”. At one time, this habit was little known to the general public, being the (supposed) sole preserve of a social sub-culture of unemployed youths. Within a short time, everyone knew about glue sniffing! Individuals who would never have dreamed of using glue as anything other than an adhesive were now inhaling the fumes, armed with the obligatory plastic bag. The effect of glue sniffing on individuals was almost unheard of until the media picked up on it. It quickly became synonymous with rebellion, contempt for social values and disrespect of convention… a “must do” pastime for any self-respecting dissenter.
Letters were written to The Times, Members of Parliament were lobbied and, obligingly, a Law was rushed through to prevent glue being purchased by people under 18 years old.
There is some debate amongst Social Scientists as to whether the “Deviancy Amplification Spiral” actually exists as hard fact. It is not without detractors.
Unsurprisingly, the data supporting the deviancy amplification spiral are exclusively qualitative rather than quantitative. It would be hard to imagine how the phenomenon could be studied on a clinical basis and what measures would/could be applied. Because of the nature of the proposition, it is hard to obtain, or even generate, statistics.
