Cohen's Theory Of Moral Panics

Stanley Cohen, one of sociology’s influential academics in explaining society introduced us to the theory of ‘Moral panics’. A moral panic is defined as when “A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests” (Cohen (1972), p.46). A ‘folk devil’, a concept closely linked to moral panics is a reminder and example to those in society of what they should not be and how they shouldn’t behave. Examples of folk devils in the past have included ‘mods’ and ‘rockers’ associated with connotations of crime and deviant behaviour. This sociological concept relates to theories of domestic violence due to the way in which it is portrayed in the media, posing a threat to society’s views

These stages are; Warning- where the threat is highlighted and defined, Impact- the impact said threat has upon media response, Inventory- the marshalling of expert opinion and belief that action must take place and finally, Reaction- an attempt to recover from the situation (McIntosh and Punch (2010), p.g 105). The warning of domestic abuse was mainly emphasised during the 1970s by feminists as part of the women’s liberation movement. This attention to the subject caused an impact through media coverage and raising awareness, changing domestic violence from a private issue, to a public one. People were given the message that it should not be ignored. This, in turn led to the inventory, whereby petitions and marches took place pursuing the change of legislation and prosecution for domestic violence. Historically, domestic abuse had been viewed as something that occurred behind closed doors. Okun (1986) suggested that husband’s rights to abuse their wives dated back to the roman times where legally, a man could beat his wife if the rod used was not thicker than his thumb, creating the term ‘rule of thumb’. The reaction to this moral panic was the introduction of refuge shelters for victims of domestic abuse (Dobash and Dobash 1992). The first these shelters were created in Chiswick (1972) and the recognition of rape within marriage as a crime in