Considering the Focus of Moral Panic

Abstract

Critically examines the ways by which a group of scholars have considered where the focus of the concept of moral panic is (or should be). It demonstrates how each of these scholars has varying accounts of the relationships between case study data of material on-the-ground-happening moral panics, the abstract concept of moral panic, social, cultural and historical contexts and social theory. This chapter reflects on the similarities and departures between each of the scholars and explains why the framework proposed in Making sense of moral panics: A framework for research is a critical one in assisting researchers to consider where the focus of the concept is (or should be).