The Hiv/Aids Moral Panic.
The HIV/AIDS moral panic.
In human societies there will always be issues or problems that occur which cause some form of reaction from those who feel that their values or societal equilibrium is being threatened. Stanley Cohen and Jock Young led the way in explaining the notion of moral panics and how they are formed and their consequences on society. There have been numerous of these moral phenomena over the years, which have gripped society in a vice lock of terror and more often than not, ignorance. This essay will discuss the concept of the moral panic and look at the case of HIV/AIDS which caused a huge conflict of morality within society. This essay will also analyse the failings of health organisations, politicians, and the media and to give an understanding of the causes of this particular moral panic and the effects on society.
The phrase ‘moral panic’ was first described by the English sociologist Stanley Cohen when he investigated the Mods and the Rockers in the 1960’s and the reaction of society toward a perceived threat of violence. His explanation of a moral panic is ‘a condition, episode, person or group of persons who become defined as a threat to societal values and interests’. (Cohen, 1987:9) Cohen also asserts the influence of the media and how they portray an event by exaggerating or manipulating facts to cause mass hysteria for their own agenda and how this is a major factor in the formation of moral panics. This perceived threat to a given societies values causes fear, anxiety and hostility towards the perpetrators of the offences against society. A moral crusade to ‘have something done’ about the threat ensues and a scapegoat or ‘folk devil’ must be established to offload blame. The concept of the ‘folk devil’ was coined by Stanley Cohen to describe the deviant or enemy who’s behaviour has caused threat to the values of society. Howard Becker refers to these folk devils as ‘outsiders’ who have been labelled as deviant by those
In human societies there will always be issues or problems that occur which cause some form of reaction from those who feel that their values or societal equilibrium is being threatened. Stanley Cohen and Jock Young led the way in explaining the notion of moral panics and how they are formed and their consequences on society. There have been numerous of these moral phenomena over the years, which have gripped society in a vice lock of terror and more often than not, ignorance. This essay will discuss the concept of the moral panic and look at the case of HIV/AIDS which caused a huge conflict of morality within society. This essay will also analyse the failings of health organisations, politicians, and the media and to give an understanding of the causes of this particular moral panic and the effects on society.
The phrase ‘moral panic’ was first described by the English sociologist Stanley Cohen when he investigated the Mods and the Rockers in the 1960’s and the reaction of society toward a perceived threat of violence. His explanation of a moral panic is ‘a condition, episode, person or group of persons who become defined as a threat to societal values and interests’. (Cohen, 1987:9) Cohen also asserts the influence of the media and how they portray an event by exaggerating or manipulating facts to cause mass hysteria for their own agenda and how this is a major factor in the formation of moral panics. This perceived threat to a given societies values causes fear, anxiety and hostility towards the perpetrators of the offences against society. A moral crusade to ‘have something done’ about the threat ensues and a scapegoat or ‘folk devil’ must be established to offload blame. The concept of the ‘folk devil’ was coined by Stanley Cohen to describe the deviant or enemy who’s behaviour has caused threat to the values of society. Howard Becker refers to these folk devils as ‘outsiders’ who have been labelled as deviant by those