Media Frames of the Ontario Safe Streets Act: assessing the moral panic model

Abstract

This paper assesses the “moral panic” framework of Stanley Cohen with reference to panhandling and squeegeeing in Ontario. There are four general tenets of the moral panic model, three of which can be said to have been documented in the case of panhandling in Ontario: a recognized threat (panhandling), a rise in public concern, and punitive control mechanisms established to eliminate the threat. This paper argues that the fourth tenet, a stereotypical presentation of the moral threat to the social order, has not been systematically analyzed, and therefore that is the task of this paper. Specifically, this paper examines the framing used by the mainstream print media in Ontario to construct the panhandling/squeegeeing problem. Articles and letters­ to the­ editor were sampled from two mainstream Ontario newspapers, the Toronto Star and the Ottawa Citizen, to examine the mainstream media’s framing of panhandling and squeegee cleaning.
 This sample was taken between 1995 and 2005, a timeframe which revolves around the implementation of the Ontario Safe Streets Act 2000, which is recognized as the punitive control mechanism designed to eliminate the threat of panhandling. The findings of this paper lead to the conclusion that panhandling in Ontario during the implementation of the Ontario Safe Streets Act does not constitute a classic moral panic by virtue of the role the media played. However, the evidence that punitive control mechanisms were established absent the support of the mainstream media suggests that a deeper understanding of the role of mainstream media as well as political interests is required with respect to framing moral panics.