Extreme fear, anxiety, and wrath over perceived interference with what society sees as its ethical principles and values define the phenomenon known as moral panics. As Tosh (2019) notes, these representations of abnormal behavior tend to be excessively or overly dramatized. Thus, some groups are stigmatized and rejected by society. The media, especially news sources, social media sites, and entertainment channels, amplify moral panics, which often originate from complex intersections of social, cultural, and political determinants. Revealed societal tensions and inequalities in power, which they (panics) mostly spring from, are what make them more than just impulse responses (Flores et al., 2019). This demonization contributes to keeping up the orders and power centers and to the justification of some oppressive or coercive measures aimed at vulnerable groups.
Socio-Historical Context of Moral Panics
Sociocultural and historical contexts of a specific society deeply affect the appearance of moral panic. Marginalized groups have often been the target of many moral panics throughout history, for example, lower socioeconomic classes, minorities, ethnic minorities, immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, and also religious minorities. As moral panics legitimate discriminatory actions and reinforce social stigma, these groups are reinforced in their victimization, hence ensuring they remain socially stigmatized and also discriminated against (Smith, 2022). In the United States, rhetoric in the early 1900s concerning the notion that African American men posed a danger to white women generated mass lynchings and also institutionalized persecution of the Black communities (Smith, 2022). Comparably, in the 1950s, the “Red Scare” tapped into concerns about communist infiltration and led to the persecution of people who were thought to be communists or left-wing.
Case Study: The War on Drugs in the United States
The U.S. “War on Drugs” is a notable case study that highlights the relationship between moral panics and disenfranchised communities. The War on Drugs, which commenced in the early 1970s and became more powerful in the following decades, focused on drug distribution and usage, especially in metropolitan areas (Withrow, 2022). All demographic groups engage in drug usage, but Black and Hispanic communities were disproportionately vilified in the War on Drugs narrative. Communities of color, especially Black and Latino populations, were disproportionately targeted by the government’s vigorous campaign against drug usage (Vitiello, 2020). Black and Hispanic people have long been associated with negative preconceptions of criminality and danger because of media representations of these areas as hubs of drug use and crime. Such politicians and law enforcement officials implemented harsh sentencing laws and aggressive policing policies, which hit minority communities harsher than others due to the construction of the black man as the criminal other.
Effects of Moral Panics on Marginalized Groups
The War on Drugs bred an era of generalized distrust and apprehension that seriously affected marginalized groups. Imperialisms’ arrests and convictions on charges of drug crime were heavily focused on Hispanics and African Americans, which led to the problem of mass incarceration and continuous poverty and alienation (Withrow, 2022). In addition, the stigma associated with drug use further isolated people struggling with addiction and made it hard for them to get treatment and health services. The culture of mistrust and terror prevailed in the minority communities towards the authorities in the light of drug war objectives, which were also to support police violence and racial profiling.
Moral panics make the injustice and inequality that marginalized people already experience worse. Communities of color were disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs’ criminalization of drug-related conduct, which increased their rates of arrest, incarceration, and social marginalization (Walsh, 2020). Racial profiling and more severe sentencing policies for Black and Latino offenders than for White ones contributed to the persistence of systematic racism in the criminal justice system.
Another consequence of marginalization, which is tied to moral panics, is class, especially when poverty and social disparities are felt. The working class and poor ones are often represented as criminals, lazy, or deserving of their fate, especially when there is social unrest, war, or economic depression (Walsh, 2020). Moral panics about homelessness, assistance, and poverty have seen mainly cruel laws enacted, which make life more difficult and more unequal for those who are already marginalized. We see it in the demonization of welfare recipients as “welfare queens” in the U.S. under Reagan and in the criminalization of poverty that involves the implementation of laws targeting loitering and panhandling across urban regions of the world.
According to Molla (2021), Communities marginalized by the war on drugs have exhibited great resilience and resistance in the face of the monumental challenges it has presented. Both (human) rights activists and grassroots organizations have joined forces against tough drug policies and for criminal justice reform. The rise of movements like Black Lives Matter has led to more conversations about systemic injustice since it puts drug policy, law enforcement, and race into one conversation (Gill & Day, 2020). In addition, programs that aim at the promotion of community-based rehabilitation and harm reduction have provided an alternative method for tackling drug addiction, shifting the focus to health, education, support, and compassion rather than blame and punishment.
Other than its many direct effects on people, the Drug War wreaked havoc on the disadvantaged population as a whole. Neighborhoods that once produced many successful citizens were torn apart by the mass incarceration, remaining a hospital that suffered from ailing society. The crack in the public trust in law enforcement further added to the discord, where the communities that were being marginalized saw the institutions meant to protect them doing the opposite, marginalizing them, like the society (Osuna, 2020).
Just as depicted here, other marginalized racial and ethnic groups, such as Muslims and immigrants, have also been subjected to very many moral panics. Immigration is extremely abused by the populists during times of social turmoil or economic instability to pin them for stealing jobs or endangering national security (Gill & Day, 2020). This is clear from the language and also laws that deny immigration in many countries, for instance, the U.S. Chinese Exclusion Act and the rise of far-right nationalist groups in Europe just like Islamophobia caused moral obsessions against Muslims, especially after the militant groups committed terrorist acts (Jennings et al., 2020). Because of this, they are subject to much discrimination, which involves many hate crimes, travel bans, and also surveillance.
Contribution to Crime and Deviance
Moral panics are greatly responsible for the formation of public opinions on crime and deviance, implicating themselves in it. A paradigmatic case is the War on Drugs, which shows how moral panics help criminalize particular behaviors and communities, hence reinforcing social inequalities and power stratification (Bain, Podmore & Rosenberg, 2020). By demonizing drug use as a moral offense and an act of criminality in contrast to a public health concern, the policymakers provided a legal basis for aggressive measures that were often disproportionately used against minorities. It is a vicious circle of poverty and imprisonment that created such conditions that social stratification widened.
Yet, moreover, from this approach, significant resources were diverted, which were supposed to be directed to the roots of drug use and addictions. In contrast to the provision of a holistic approach to dealing with addiction, including rehabilitation and harm reduction programs, the resources were used on punishments only. Resource misallocation aggravated social injustices as people with low incomes were the victims of blunt policies (Krzyżanowski, 2020). Consequently, the War on Drugs continues to be an incarnated example of how moral panics affect people’s perception of the complexity of the problem, preserving injustices developed within and thus becoming an obstacle on the way toward the actual solution of the substance use problem.
Role of Entrepreneurs in Moral Panics
Stakeholders are omnipresent in the news outlets, political space, and in the circle of people with influence, as the ones central to the emergence and sustaining of moral panics. In the framework of the War on Drugs, the media coverage of drug-related crimes fueled the situation, which led to heightened public fears and possibly supplied the grounds for severe repressive actions (Mikhaylova, 2022). Politicians who were out to show themselves as the key in the fight against crime took advantage of the narratives to score political points, which played out in the form of legislation and policies that have been oppressive to the less privileged. Moreover, according to Flores-Yeffal & Sparge (2022), the private prison industry actively pushed for strict sentence laws, which eventually led to the financial profits out of the percentage of incarceration from the “War on Drugs.”
Media moguls sensationalized drug-related crimes, thereby influencing the public’s view and molding the public clamor for harsh measures. Politicians recognized that in the eyes of the public, they would appear to be the champion figure of law and order when they acted tough on crime. Consequently, the narratives became law through legislative action (Falkof, 2020). At the same time, the private prison industry has benefited from those policies, making money from the incarceration of individuals caught in the War on Drugs. Collected, all these entrepreneurs were at the center of a circle of fear, misinformation, and exploitation, which increasingly shaped drug policy and continued injustices.
Media Influence
Some of the forms of media, like news outlets, T.V. shows, and films, to a very great extent, shaped the popular perceptions of the war on drugs and also contributed to the creation of moral panics. Sensationalized depictions of crime and violence related to drugs in the popular culture continued and often deepened the negative stereotypes of drug users as dangerous and very deviant, further stigmatizing marginalized groups (Koumouris & Blaustein, 2022). Additionally, biased media reporting usually presented the police actions favorably, belittling or omitting the human rights violations and also racial injustices of the War on Drugs. Hence, the media was the main entity that spearheaded the moral panic on drug use and addiction.
Conclusion
Moral panics are strong processes strengthening structural inequalities and, thus, social stratification in general, especially impacting people experiencing poverty. Arguably, one of the best examples of how moral panics emerge and create narratives on criminality and the criminalization of specific actions and people is the American Drug War. Most vulnerable populations and communities of color are disproportionately targeted, arrested, placed in prisons, and segregated. Not least, politicians, journalists, and businesspeople’s potential to fuel moral panic is an argument in favor of critically examining society’s reaction to complicated problems. Moving forward, real development and social justice must be promoted by systemic inequalities being addressed and conversations being reframed so that help and compassion replace punishment.
References
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