ABSTRACT
This chapter describes one of the examples of moral panics that was examined by Critcher, paedophilia, and considers this in relation to the sexual abuse allegations made against Jimmy Savile and other media celebrities. It explains Stan Cohen’s analysis before looking at examples of media reporting of moral panics from before his work through to more contemporary examples. Before turning to an evaluation of Cohen’s work, the chapter looks at E. Goode and N. Ben-Yehuda’s study on moral panics, published in 1994 and dedicated to Cohen. Paedophilia does meet all the major aspects and criterion of a moral panic – there are identifiable ‘folk devils’; there is widespread agreement, and strong emotional passions, amongst the public, media and politicians about the extent and danger of such behaviour. Jock Young’s study is an examination of the effects of the moral panic about drug use on criminal or deviant behaviour in London in the late 1960s.
