ABSTRACT
In our opinion there does seem to be a contemporary moral panic around child abuse and paedophilia which is at least partly to blame for a rise in unproven accusations against teachers and other professionals working with children and young people. Others (e.g. Furedi, 1994) have suggested that moral panics tend to occur during times of rapid social change, when society is not able to adapt to dramatic upheaval and when many are experiencing a loss of control. From this, we could perhaps anticipate a rapid increase in the propensity for moral panic in the current uncertain economic times. Moral panics have traditionally been understood to be a pattern of mass behaviour based on the false or exaggerated perception that some cultural behaviour or group of people (frequently a minority group or subculture) is dangerously deviant, or is considered to constitute some form of menace to society.
