ABSTRACT
The Ten Commandments notwithstanding, no ideas drop fully formed from the heavens; all concepts, theories, and principles grow from the ground up, out of the rich soil of context, culture, communication, and human contact. The moral panic is no exception. Exaggerated or misplaced accusations of believed moral wrongdoing, the persecution of innocent parties, and the fear, suspicion, or concern that certain individuals, groups, or categories threaten a community’s or a society’s well-being, way of life, and moral order stretch back to the dawn of humanity. But it was not until the early 1970s that academics identified, conceptualized, and named the phenomenon of widespread concern over a nonexistent or minor moral threat in the form of a sociological concept.
