Moral panic (dictionary)

BoyWiki Dictionary: Moral panic

n (Sociological terminology)

¹ A semi-spontaneous or media-generated mass movement based on the perception that an individual, group, community, or culture is dangerously deviant and poses a menace to society.

² A public outcry often resulting in a "witch hunt".

A moral panic is an intense feeling expressed in a population about an issue that appears to threaten the social order. The term first appeared in the English language in 1830 in The Quarterly Christian Spectator. Moral panics are in essence controversies that involve arguments and social tension, and in which disagreement is difficult because the matter at its center is taboo.

The media have long operated as agents of moral indignation, even when they are not consciously engaged in crusading or muckraking. Simply reporting the facts can be enough to generate concern, anxiety or panic.