welcome to this tutor to you sociology topic video looking at theories of crime and deviance focusing on the work of stanley cohen and folk devils and moral panics stan cohen's work folk devils and moral panics is a seminal piece of sociological research that has become well known for introducing the term moral panic into everyday language in folk devil's moral panics cohen examined the relationships between the media police and those committing acts of deviance namely public disorder between the mobs and the rockers at seaside resorts in the uk in the early 1960s cohen's work has become incredibly influential in the examination of the relationship between the media and perceptions of criminality and can be applied not to just young working-class adults but to a broader range of social groups in society in this video we're going to examine cohen's work and look at some of the other applications of folk devils and moral panics which help us to explain the relationships between media and crime cohen examine clashes between two different youth subcultures at seaside resorts such as clacton brighton and margate in the early part of 1964. clashes between the two groups the mods and the rockers were reported by the media as riots when in reality they were little more than scuffles between the two groups the media exaggeration of these clashes helped to create these two groups as distinct subcultures with young people across the uk coming to identify as either a mod or a rocker as a result of the coverage cohen used a variety of methods to investigate this phenomenon witnessing events on the beaches interviewing participants in coffee bars and clubs and observing court proceedings and also used secondary sources such as newspapers to compare the reporting of these events he noted that the different scenarios that each of these perspectives took on the events and suggested that the media were generating a moral panic about the behaviour of lawless youth in order to generate sales cohen suggested that for those participating in the clashes there was a different meaning to the clashes than was being reported in newspapers for many it was little more than a way of passing time or responding to insults whereas for the press it was a sign of society's morality collapsing in the hands of a new generation cohen suggested that the media were creating a moral panic about these behaviors suggesting the actions of young people were damaging the moral fabric of society and that the clashes were symptomatic of a wider decay of morality cohen suggested that the media along with other agencies such as the government and the judiciary were acting as moral entrepreneurs aiming to reaffirm the moral values of their generation onto others as part of a moral crusade to preserve the status quo of society however the creation of a moral panic also had the byproduct of creating folk devils and oversimplified and often ill-informed generalization of those causing the moral panic in cohen's research he suggested that the youth subcultures were vilified as folk devils for displaying violent and aggressive behavior part of the wider moral panic over the conduct of young adults these folk devils were media creations but were reinforced by the actions of the government and the police in clamping down on the actions of these groups once the folk devil was identified a crackdown from authorities ensued which amplified the problems that had arisen from the first reporting of events cohen noticed that police used more aggressive methods to target those they believe to be folk devils that is the mods and the rockers higher levels of policing in seaside towns and public holidays an increased media presence looking to capture the action did little to deter criminal behavior rather it amplified it what cohen referred to as deviancy amplification by highlighting the opportunities for crime and informing the population that there will be a sensational event this drew more people on into the area and as a result created more crime while cohen examined moral panics in the context of 1960s youth culture the application of moral panics can be applied to other events both before and since rave culture in the 1980s and early 1990s is one such example which led to the government are actively trying to criminalize a form of music under the police and criminal justice bill terrorism is a further example from the threat of the ira from the 1960s onwards due to international terrorism in the 1970s and 80s to the threat of homegrown terrorism in contemporary times different groups irish catholics and muslims predominantly have been targeted as folk devils this is linked into moral panics over immigration and the rise of nationalism knife crime is another moral panic which has emerged at different times with folk devils being constructed from working class and black communities often being linked into welfare dependency and inadequate socialization provided by lone parents alternatively it can be linked to music that people listen to from rap in the 1980s and 90s to grime and drill music in contemporary society music and musicians often become convenient folk devils particularly for those on the right of the political spectrum cohen's work has been criticized however as being outdated thornton and robbie suggested the impact of moral panics is diminished in an era of media saturation where people are not limited in their sources of news and therefore not passive recipients of information a second criticism is that moral panics often fade after a short period of time and particularly those connected with music or other aspects of culture become subsumed into the mainstream this can be seen with rave music metal and more recently grime however despite these criticisms we can see elements of cohen's work in contemporary society particularly in relation to the covid pandemic where folk devils were created from those that adopted selfish attitudes towards stockpiling socializing with others and not wearing masks this created the folk devil of the cove idiot often used through throughout social media the reporting of black lives matter protest in 2020 has looked to create folk devils of those that are involved by commenting on breaching social distancing rules or portraying black lives matter protesters as violent supremacists here we can see that cohen's work can still be applied to contemporary issues that concludes this cheetah to you a level sociology topic video on theories of crime focusing on stan cohen's folk devils and moral panics thanks for watching