Folk Devils and Moral Panics

Stanely Cohen's study of deviant groups - society's "folk devils" - and the public and media reaction to them, is widely hailed as a classic of its kind. With great insight he reviews recent theory and criticism about the concept of "moral panics" and discusses the moral panics surrounding the folk devils of recent times: ecstasy and designer drugs; the death of James Bulger; the "Name and Shame" campaign against suspected paedophiles; and the vilification of "bogus" asylum seekers.